Recently in Economy Category

Here's a talking point you won't hear from Speaker Boehner, the Tea Party inmates who have taken control of the asylum formerly known as the House of Representatives, or any other Republican involved in this ginned-up "crisis." Sadly, you'll hear it from damn few, if any, Democrats as well: The cost the United States pays to service its debt, as a percentage of GDP, is about half of what it was under Ronald Reagan. Zachary...

If Speaker Boehner's attempt to get his debt ceiling plan passed by the House last night was a referendum on his leadership, the results are in and they are clear--Boehner is not in charge, the inmates are truly running the asylum, and fully intent on running the economy over the cliff. As Ron Beasley at The Moderate Voice put it, Boehner's " not trying to herd cats, but lemmings."Despite all the arm-twisting, coercing, and cajoling...

As the extortionists at Standard and Poor's threaten a credit rating downgrade, not just if the debt ceiling isn't raised but if the deficit isn't cut by $4 trillion, Robert Reich points out that if the crooks at S& P had done their effin' jobs the deficit and debt that they demand be cut wouldn't be where it is today:"Who is Standard & Poor's to tell America how much debt it has to shed in...

A must-read article by Elizabeth Drew in The New York Review of Books asks and answers a question posed here by yours truly on July 7, "What Were They Thinking?" The answer is just as I suspected:"In early July, when Obama suddenly injected Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid into the deficit and debt negotiations, many, perhaps most, Democrats were dismayed. They believed that the President was offering up the poor and the needy as a...

SAT time. Here are three different budget messages by three different presidents. Which one is unlike the other two? Herbert Hoover, 1932:"In framing this Budget, I have proceeded on the basis that the estimates for 1933 should ask for only the minimum amounts which are absolutely essential for the operation of the Government under existing law, after making due allowance for continuing appropriations. The appropriation estimates for 1933 reflect a drastic curtailment of the expenses...

It can't be excerpted, go read the entire article. Now. That is an order, not a request. Okay, one excerpt. Here's the close:"Enough with the peas and the tea. What America needs at the present moment is a We the People Party -- a We Party. Instead of trying to dismantle the New Deal, like both the Tea Partyers and the Pea Partyers, the We Party would campaign to modernize and, where necessary, expand the...

Whenever I see a discussion about the real crisis this country faces---that would be unemployment, not the manufactured one over the deficit---a couple of words keep coming up from the alleged smartest guys in the room, "confidence" and "certainty." Businesses would hire, so it's said, if they had either or both. President Obama referred to it in a recent press conference:"What we need to do is to restore business confidence and the confidence of the...

I remember this term from my history classes. The whole idea of it seemed so absurd. As Sting said in one of his early solo efforts, "I hope the Russians love their children too." When the Soviet Union tumbled it seemed like this was going to be something for the history books. Something that today's children could only imagine. For most of us, we lived it for a good portion of our lives. We thought...

Krugman had another great piece in the NYT yesterday about the realities of the economy and how our elected leaders and political pundits are getting the facts completely wrong....

Mr. President, What. The. Hell. Are. You. Thinking?"At a meeting with top House and Senate leaders set for Thursday morning, Obama plans to argue that a rare consensus has emerged about the size and scope of the nation's budget problems and that policymakers should seize the moment to take dramatic action.As part of his pitch, Obama is proposing significant reductions in Medicare spending and for the first time is offering to tackle the rising cost...