Trying to avoid the national debt getting bigger? That would be the real problem. As usual, Keynesians aver that debt isn’t a problem, because we owe it to ourselves. Globally, and for the most part even within countries, a rise in debt isn’t an indication that we’re living beyond our means, because as Fatas puts […]
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I wrote my last post just prior to the State of the Union Address and admitted to the foolishness of doing so. I am not writing today to toot my own horn, but I have to say, I was not too far off. Let me remind you of the promises of Huey Long’s Share Our […]
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Spending and the debt. Are we winning or losing?
05 Jan 2015
As the new Republican congress gets set to tackle the Obama agenda, its pertinent to ask if we’re winning or losing on spending. After all, this is supposedly the reason for the rise of the tea party–out of control spending on the part of the Obama administration. This past fall the U.S. government reported the […]
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As we approach the new year and incidentally, Old Christmas (January 6), I thought I would leave you with a few “gifts.” These come from Federal, state and even local actions over the past year. I don’t really wish these on anyone, but they are current reality. Release of five more Guantanamo detainees, whose threat […]
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Politico‘s James Hohman has a nice piece up this morning on Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) and his quest for a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution. Kasich has formed a non-profit organization, Balanced Budget Forever, to promote the effort. Though the article is ostensibly about the legislative quest, the sub-theme is Kasich’s possible presidential bid […]
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Coke vs. Pepsi V
09 Nov 2014
The debate between the economists reminds me of a long-past humorous saying about the dismal practitioners (only teasing there): “If you laid all the economists of the world end-to-end they would never reach a conclusion.” I guess they still haven’t regarding this question of whether the Republicans and Democrats are essentially different or the same. […]
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America Saves – Less
25 Feb 2014
This is America Saves week. If there was one encouraging result from the “Great Recession” it was that personal savings increased. However it looks like that trend has reversed itself and we are returning to our accustomed low rates of saving. In a post in Real Time Economics on the Wall Street Journal’s site Jeffrey […]
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Deficits, Debt and Political Strategy
14 Feb 2014
When Mr. Boehner announced his strategy Tuesday at a closed-door conference, no one objected, a senior House GOP aide said. He was halfway back to his seat when he said: “I got this monkey off your back and you’re not even going to applaud?” Lawmakers took the hint and gave him a round of applause. […]
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Economic Ignorance: (Bad) Quote of the Day?
03 Dec 2013
Our interns here in DC visited the Bureau of Printing and Engraving this week. In case you didn’t know, this is where most of the paper money in the US is printed. I have to say I haven’t been so near so much cash in my life (something like a few hundred million in the […]
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Common Sense Economics
05 Nov 2013
Alan Greenspan was being interviewed about his new book The Map and the Territory in Time magazine recently and responded to the question, “Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently during your time as chairman of the Fed?” His response was in part, “I always knew debt was important. If I […]
Bert Wheeler
Jeff Haymond
Marc Clauson
Mark Caleb Smith
Tom Mach