Monthly Archives: October 2010

A presidency heading for a fiscal train wreck via FT.com / Comment / Opinion – A presidency heading for a fiscal train wreck. The result will soon be the worst of all worlds: neither short-term stimulus nor medium-term fiscal sustainability. … Continue reading →

‘A Well Tailored Safety Net’: Social Security and Old-Age Risk-Sharing | Angry Bear. Basically, stabilizing Social Security isn’t as hard as people want to make it seem.

Paul Krugman points out why if some people pay down their debt by spending less than their income, others must spend more than their income to prevent the world’s economy from declining.  It’s a simple accounting identity: “for the world … Continue reading →

That is all…

Bartlett points out the differences between now and 1994 when a new Republican Congress and Bill Clinton resulted in gridlock (here): …But today the situation is quite different. The economy is in the tank and the budget is clearly on … Continue reading →

The Republicans seem poised to win control of at least one house of Congress this election.  Several economists I trust (Paul Krugman, Mark Thoma, and Nouriel Roubini to name three) see this as a true economic disaster, and I can’t … Continue reading →

Aaron Carroll at the Incidental Economist: As the rhetoric heats up before the election, I’d like to give you a quick reminder* of why we needed (and still need) health care reform: That thick red line is the United States.  … Continue reading →

I’ve got to get into the habit of reading Johnston more regularly — he is a goldmine of real data.  In this article, he asks a simple question: What percentage of wealth in America is owned by the poorest 40 … Continue reading →

In another excellent article on tax.com, David Cay Johnston reports on new wage data released by the Social Security Administration. Every 34th wage earner in America in 2008 went all of 2009 without earning a single dollar, new data from … Continue reading →

Baby-sitting the economy. – By Paul Krugman – Slate Magazine. Krugman says this story changed his life.  It certainly changed the way I look at inflation.  Follow the “quite obvious” link at the end and you will find out why … Continue reading →