With Obama’s conversion to fiscal conservatism now official I think we all need to take stock of the mountain he intends to climb. The problems are daunting, and any reasonable attack on them will encompass years – probably his entire term in office, even if he is re-elected.
Why is this?
The latest Congressional Budget Office forecast… »
Archive for January, 2010
Long Term Outlook: A National Strategy
Friday, January 29th, 2010Bernanke Confirmation
Friday, January 29th, 2010I have left Bernanke’s confirmation for a second term at the Fed uncommented upon for the simple reason that I have little to add. But for the record: on balance I opposed his re-appointment.
On the negative side:
He has shown little indication that he intends to adjust the Fed’s activities in light of the experiences from… »
GDP Growth Surges … Or Does It?
Friday, January 29th, 2010Calm down everyone. Today’s report that GDP grew at an annual rate of 5.7% in the last quarter of 2009 is a very misleading statistic. Yes, the economy grew, and, yes, growth was a little higher than in the third quarter, but the growth trajectory is a lot lower than that 5.7% suggests.
Here’s why:
Look at… »
Jobs? and Obama’s Speech
Thursday, January 28th, 2010Well if we needed confirmation that Obama’s sudden firm focus on jobs is justified, today’s report of claims for unemployment insurance provides all we need.
Claims dropped 8,000 to 470,000. The problem with this is that last week we saw a sudden uptick of 34,000, and most of the ‘experts’ thought that this week’s number would… »
Housing Still Soft
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010The news keeps trickling out. This week is very busy from a reporting standpoint with today’s focus on sales of new homes. The results are not that good and suggest the real estate market is still weak. This, of course, is no surprise – except to the perennial optimists ate the National Association of Realtors.
Sales… »
Double Standard?
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010Ummm.
Why does it take only 51 votes to re-appoint Bernanke, but 60 to pass health care… »
The Freeze Part 2
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010No I haven’t changed the basic thrust of my opinion: the freeze still is rubbish. It covers a small part of the budget and so will garner very little by way of actual deficit reduction. At the same time it represents an abject capitulation by the White House to Republican arguments. At best it panders… »