Economics
Fun With Taxes
I have been reading some interesting comments about the potential impact of rolling back the infamous Bush tax cuts from 2001 and 2003. Remember these tax cuts are a primary reason we have a long term Federal deficit. One of the key features of those cuts was to reduce the tax imposed on each bracket…. »
You Can’t Win Them All!
A correspondent – Stephan – writes to tell me that my suggestion that we need at least $200 billion in the infrastructure deal being advocated by Obama is a complete nonsense. He puts me into the Obama camp in terms of timidity.
He’s right of course.
$200 billion is simply too little. Mea culpa. I clearly have… »
Income Inequality and The Failed American Dream
The American dream is dead.
That is, if it ever truly existed and wasn’t some creation of Hollywood or Walt Disney.
My friend John sent me a long e-mail in which he wondered why it is that so many Americans have no clue as to where they stand in terms of wealth. Far too many, he opined,… »
New Stimulus … Sort Of
It is remarkable how long it has taken for the administration to realize that the economy needs another shot in the arm. All this year those of us who take notice of history have been arguing that we need an additional boost: recessions caused by financial collapses always take much more effort and expense to… »
Obama’s Failure: Part 2
A few of you have called me harsh in my criticism of Obama. Perhaps I am. Allow me to expand a little on why I have the opinion I do. My narrative goes this way:
My worldview is largely informed by my own experience and education. No news in that. But it is heavily influenced by… »
Jobs: Mixed News
One of the themes we are seeing most frequently nowadays is the stock market’s over reaction to any shred of good news and its avoidance of any bad news. Today’s report on employment is a classic example.
The facts are these: payrolls dropped by 54,000 in August; the unemployment rate edged up to 9.6%; but hidden… »
Manufacturing Bumps Up
Judging by the hysteria on Wall Street this morning an impartial observer would be forgiven for thinking we had suddenly burst free of the grip of mediocrity. No such luck. What caused the rumpus was a very slight increase in the Institute of Supply Management’s Index of manufacturing activity. The index bumped up from 55.5%… »