Bernanke announced no new steps on the economy, although he urged the government to “pursue tax, trade, and regulatory policies that encourage economic health.” I guess that for Bernanke, though, it’s a case of “first, do no harm.” Paul Krugman … Continue reading →
Despite my interest in politics (or perhaps because of it?), there haven’t been many presidential candidates over the years who’ve roused much enthusiasm in me. In fact, the single exception might have been Paul Tsongas, who ran for (and lost) … Continue reading →
The article “Why Americans Hate Economics” caught my eye, for obvious reasons. Here’s a quote: Christina Romer, the University of California at Berkeley economics professor and President Obama’s first chief economist, once relayed the old joke that “there are two … Continue reading →
I’ve noticed a few articles and posts lately from people on the left containing the meme “we know exactly what to do to fix the economy, and the mean and destructive politicians just won’t do it.” Here’s a good example … Continue reading →
…but the good news is: mortgage rates are mega-low! Time to buy a home! That is, if you’ve got any money left, or a job. Here are some possible reasons why the market is tanking today. And only 26% of … Continue reading →
Here’s Krauthammer on the stimulus: “[Obama] did a huge Keynesian gamble, and it failed.” But super-Keynesians such as Krugman say it failed because it wasn’t nearly super enough. It should have been bigger. And Obama says if he hadn’t done … Continue reading →
Right off, I noticed a few things about Warren Buffett’s plea in the NY Times asking the federal government to stop coddling him and his fellow rich people and to please, please, PLEASE raise their taxes on income, capital gains, … Continue reading →
Romney is getting a lot of flack for saying that corporations are people, but even liberal Greg Sargent is defending Romney—sort of, anyway A transcript of Romney’s remarks appears at Sargent’s WaPo blog. And well, aren’t corporations people? The whole … Continue reading →
…and this time they say it’s about trouble with the French banks, which hold a lot of European debt. My opinion? The market is very volatile, and each explanation is only part of the explanation. The fuller explanation is uncertainty … Continue reading →
By now you may be heartily sick of this question. I certainly am. I’ve written enough about it, and I’m not planning to write about it again—unless, of course, some important new facts or revelations come into play. And those … Continue reading →
…nobody knows. Right now, in a move that should surprise absolutely no one, the market is down significantly (as of this writing, 325). A great deal of the slide is almost certainly a reaction to late Friday’s S&P downgrade of … Continue reading →
Last night—as you all must know by now unless you’ve been having a much more exciting weekend than I—the financial ratings agency Standard & Poor downgraded the US debt from AAA to AA+ for the very first time. Now, AA+ … Continue reading →