Anti-stimulus sentiment ran high in the comments section of my (qualified) defense of the Obama Administration’s economic policy. I encourage the skeptics to check out this article from Richard Posner, which mounts a limited...
“If anyone tries to tell you that uncertainty about climate change is a reason for inaction, he’s either a fool or a scoundrel. Probably a bit of both.” ~ Mark Kleiman Kleiman makes a...
Riffing off my last post, I’d like to take on two thoughts. First, here’s Yglesias:
Via Sociological Images is this pretty awesome “pro-capitalist” propaganda cartoon from 1948: The Miller Center of Public Affairs (my employer) is holding a conference on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin...
Matt Yglesias is in Denmark. I can sort of travel vicariously by blogging about Denmark as well, so here we go…. Not surprisingly, the Danes have very high taxes: The overwhelming fact about Danish...
Responding to Ross Douthat’s latest column, Jamelle raises an interesting question: And finally, I wonder how Douthat explains away Northern Europe’s high economic growth rates and robust welfare states? I’m no economist, but I...
Richard Posner has an interesting essay on John Maynard Keynes in The New Republic. I’m still trying to untangle all the various ideas and contradictions implicit in this economic downturn. There are many competing...
One of the nice things about transitioning out of academic life and into professional life (if only temporarily) is that I suddenly have a surfeit of leisure time, and among other things, I’m using...
“POPULIST, n. A fossil patriot of the early agricultural period, found in the old red soapstone underlying Kansas; characterized by an uncommon spread of ear, which some naturalists contend gave him the power of...
Matt Yglesias points us to this chart, which is depressing enough on its own: Then, both he and Kevin Drum, go on to point out that job losses are likely going to be long-term....
“By treating any and all social safety nets as irreversible steps on the Road to Serfdom, we allow liberals and progressives to shape those policies in ways that are inefficient, ineffective, and overbroad –...
The Wall Street Journal lists them so you don’t have to (with oddly tiny pictures and even more oddly cramped descriptions. It’s almost as though whoever designed the slideshow was working on a very...
~by jfxgillis I. Now and Then and Now Pope Benedict XVI issued an encyclical this week expressing Church doctrine with respect to the global political economy. I knew it would be described in the...
E.D. thinks that market economics don’t apply to education. Chris disagrees, but thinks that market economics ultimately are about controlling people and inevitably creates – specifically in the realm of education – a form...
Then again, simply because the United States ceased to be a ‘real’ republic does not mean that it ever became an empire. Of course, the United States did become an empire, complete with colonies,...
Via Andrew, Felix Salmon pokes holes in a list of necessary reforms from Nassim Taleb: Taleb’s first principle is that “nothing should ever become too big to fail”. But all economies have too-big-to-fail institutions;...
I’m sure I’ve run this course long enough. I’ve been in constant contemplation of the merits of the individual vs. the community. I’ve written endlessly about the subject and read a good deal on...
I think what many mainstream defenders of Geithner or the rescue plan don’t realize is that critics of the plan are not always merely partisan hacks out with a political agenda. Some of us...
The discussion surrounding community, individualism, materialism, and the current economic and political crisis is anything but a discussion of perfect definitions or easy answers, and much of it is lodged only in vague theoretical...
This is my third financial/economic/treasury round-up. I am not an expert in these matters so what I’ve been trying to do is bring some expert voices to the League in order to better flesh...
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on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25Yes, other writers have observed that Trump has made protectionist mouth noises for decades.
on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/2550 seconds into the vid below.....says it all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiUWvxerU8Q&ab_ch… on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25While stupid and clueless probably covers a lot of ground there's also an angle that Trump was simpl…
on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25Conor Sen on Twitter, tongue in cheek: "I was promised an oligarchy that cared about shareholders ab…
on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25I've come across a number of writers arguing that Trump's statements going back to the 80s suggest t…
on Weekend Plans Post: Batchin’ ItDude. That's awesome! Mr. Blue Sky is one of those that strikes me as a cheat code for "awesome". Wh… on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25This strikes me as a failure that would have been avoidable with skilled people in a handful of impo…
on Weekend Plans Post: Batchin’ ItThe chorus I sing with is having our spring shows this weekend. https://www.voicesofhopecc.org/conce…
on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25Yet another review on Snow White. She has serious spoilers for the plot. Probably the biggest tell w… on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25I would say that Trump clearly believes Tariffs are a net positive to the economy and not (at best)…
April 3, 2025
A Would-Be Buyer at an Automobile Show
April 2, 2025
April 1, 2025
The Greatest Strike in History
March 30, 2025
on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25 on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25 on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25 on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25 on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25
on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25 on About Last Night: Voting Fun in Wisconsin and Florida on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25 on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25
on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25
on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25 on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25 on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25 on Open Mic for the week of 3/31/25 on When a Maiden Needs a Friend
