Stable Genius Liberal

Untitled

When interest rates are close to the rate of economic growth, Gagnon continues, you can run a budget deficit forever as long as the primary deficit is balanced. The debt load as a share of the economy won’t increase over time. And if interest rates are lower than the pace of growth — as they… Continue reading Untitled

Rortybomb: What Does the Leaked Brown-Vitter Bill on Too Big To Fail Do?

It gets very technical, but the 1st third of the article is an easy read and worth reading. Explains what is and what is not in Brown-Vitter and has an easy to understand chart.

Russell Brand: Remembering Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s Unmaternal National Matriarch

Normally I can’t stand Russell Brand. But this is well written. Warm and witty. Maybe he should talk less and write more.

Untitled

it’s hard to think of a proposition that has been more thoroughly refuted by history than the notion that social insurance undermines a free society. Almost 70 years have passed since Friedrich Hayek predicted (or at any rate was understood by his admirers to predict) that Britain’s welfare state would put the nation on the… Continue reading Untitled

STUDY: States With Loose Gun Laws Have Higher Rates Of Gun Violence

Want more violence? Loose gun laws, poor education and a failed social safety net. Get those in place and you’ll have lots more violence.

Yglesias: Obama’s Five Percent Pay Cut Is Absurd

This business of President Obama giving himself a five percent pay cut in solidarity with sequester-ravaged federal agencies seems totally absurd to me. Who is better off thanks to this? It doesn’t seem to free up any budgetary funds for anything.

I usually refrain form calling out politicians for grand standing. It’s part of the job. As long as it isn’t too bad, you have to let it slide. But this is such silly grandstanding that it needs to be mocked. How exactly will Obama’s life be different after this 5% cut? Will he have to bring a brown bag lunch on Air Force one?

Untitled

with Hayek, as with Reagan, the truly amazing thing is that we have people citing as a source of wisdom someone who has been as thoroughly refuted by history as anyone can be. Three generations into the modern welfare state, and western democracies look less Stalinist than ever. Jack-booted Insurance-bringing Thugs

What Problem Are DC’s New Food Truck Regulations Trying To Solve?

I know some people of a market urbanist persuasion take the view that trucks’ very existence is a sign of the failure of zoning codes and regulations, but I actually think trucks are an important lunch solution on the merits.

I would not be surprised if these regulations are being pushed by the fast food industry.

Senate votes to end advantages for ‘Too Big To Fail’ banks

Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced the amendment, which ends “Too Big To Fail” subsidies or funding advantages for Wall Street mega-banks with more than $500 billion in assets. Their amendment was adopted on a 99-0 vote Friday night.

Untitled

(via Rear-View Prank WIN – Cheezburger)