Category: economics

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a study from Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier finds that defense spending does indeed create jobs under recession conditions but that “$1 billion spent on each of the domestic spending priorities will create substantially more jobs within the U.S. economy than would the same $1 billion spent on the military” with “investments in clean energy,… Continue reading Untitled

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The average Bush tax cut in 2011 for a taxpayer in the richest one percent is greater than the average income of the other 99 percent ($66,384 compared to $58,506). The Average Bush Tax Cut For The 1 Percent This Year Will Be Greater Than The Average Income Of The Other 99 Percent | ThinkProgress

Huntsman and the GOP Debate on Too Big To Fail

There are a series of proposals, mostly surrounding taxes and caps on size, leverage and presumably complexity. The first bullet point, a cap on size relative to GDP, is similar to the SAFE Banking Act, which failed in the 2010 Senate with 33 votes. They all sound like good ideas, though they received little-to-no GOP… Continue reading Huntsman and the GOP Debate on Too Big To Fail

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If CRA is the caused of the housing bubble, why did countries without the CRA have housing bubbles? (via The Bonddad Blog: About that GSE/CRA Causing the Bubble Argument ….)

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The appetite of red states for federal subsidies mocks the tirades of their politicians against the federal government. In March 2008, on the verge of the Great Recession, 22 Republican states were net recipients of federal subsidies, while only 10 Democratic-leaning states were. Sixteen blue states were net payers of federal taxes, compared to only… Continue reading Untitled

Bank Of America Dumps $75 Trillion In Derivatives On U.S. Taxpayers With Federal Approval

Bloomberg reports that Bank of America (BAC) has shifted about $22 trillion worth of derivative obligations from Merrill Lynch and the BAC holding company to the FDIC insured retail deposit division. Along with this information came the revelation that the FDIC insured unit was already stuffed with $53 trillion worth of these potentially toxic obligations,… Continue reading Bank Of America Dumps $75 Trillion In Derivatives On U.S. Taxpayers With Federal Approval

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The point of view underlying von Mises’s–and von Hayek, and Marx, and Ron Paul–complaint against fiat money in general and monetary management of the business cycle in particular is this: that value comes from human sweat and toil, not from being clever. Thus it is fine for money to have value if it is 100%… Continue reading Untitled

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One striking difference is that the iconic conservative works are about ideology. By contrast, the most influential liberal books of the era are about policy issues. A liberal reads conservative books — Marginal Revolution