Today’s Papers
–The NYT ran one of their “Sunday Dialogues” based off of my full employment op-ed. I thought it was a great selection of provocative letters, all worth a read. Like many people I talk to about this, especially non-economists, most respondents agreed with the proposition that something’s changed, i.e., accelerated, in the impact of labor-saving [...]
The Papers: Weirdness at the WaPo
Two strange, revisionist pieces in this AM’s WaPo. First, on the oped page, a confusing, ahistorical editorial riffing off of the Rogoff-Reinhart (R&R) debacle. The piece starts off spot-on, making a point I’ve been stressing in recent days: the austerity movement is not built off of this one R&R paper, and absent their paper, the [...]
Is More Peer Reviewing the Answer?
In the midst of the Reinhart-Rogoff meltdown, a commenter was aghast to learn that their paper was not peer reviewed.* She asked, reasonably, how could the newspapers report findings that had not gone through that process? It’s a fair question, and I should expand on the too glib remarks from my post: So the answer [...]
Today’s Papers
A few things that caught my sleepy eyes: –Jim Tankersley reviews the work of the expansionary contraction crowd, which is almost exclusively the work of economist Alberto Alesina with co-authors. I’ve long held the view that tax increases and budget cuts in weak economies are analogous to leeching in medieval medicine: it’s not that it [...]
Today’s Papers: Gas Prices and Simpson/Bowles II
Random observations re political economy from the broadsheets: –Steve Mufson provides a useful account of what’s going on with gas prices. Sometimes gas price spikes have obvious causes—like a geo-politically driven supply disruption—and sometimes, like now, it’s a bit harder to nail down what’s driving the spike. Mufson reports that the current spike is a: [...]
More on Retirement (In)Security
Important piece by Mike Fletcher in this AMs WaPo that strongly amplifies points I stressed here the other day. The Post reports that more workers, financially stressed by cash flows that fall short of their family budgets, are turning to early withdrawals from their 401(k)’s: More than one in four American workers with 401(k) and [...]
A Few Fiscal Points re this AMs WaPo
Two front page articles in today’s WaPo caught my attention (yes, I still read the “broadsheets”). The first was a cliff update but it is the accompanying graphic upon which I wanted to comment (saw “My Fair Lady” last night so I’m minding my elocution). It is conventional wisdom in this town, especially by the [...]
Today’s Papers: Defense Spending, Health Insurance Ain’t a Normal Market, and Romney’s Truthiness
A few pieces in the papers today on themes near and dear to the OTE heart. First, while Gov. Romney’s proposed increase in defense spending became an important Obama talking point, the fact is that the military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned about remains alive and well, as discussed compellingly here. One point the author [...]
Schumer Avoids Tax Trap; The Payroll Tax Cut in Trouble; Pernicious Politics
Here it is the afternoon and I’m just getting around to some articles and blogs for your attention. Senator Avoids Trap: First, Senator Chuck Schumer, to his great credit, understands the tax reform trap. Here at OTE, we’re always warning folks to be aware that when politicians talk about a “grand bargain” on taxes that [...]
The Teachers’ Strike in Chicago…and VAMs
Steve Greenhouse does a nice job of explaining what’s going on in this high visibility strike by Chicago’s public school teachers. I need to learn more about the details before I develop my own view, but two things to keep in mind here. First, public opinion turns out to be very important in these high [...]
Morning Papes
Lots on the conventions, of course, but not a lot new there from an OTE perspective. I’d summarize the platforms thusly: Rs: Markets rule. Ds: Markets rule, except when they fail. Then there’s a role for government. There…I just saved you a lot of viewing time. OK, this is a tough read about the [...]
Do Americans and Their Elected Representatives Really Want a Much Smaller Government?
Like many other members of the commentariat, I’ve argued that the forthcoming election is about the role of government in our lives, with starkly different answers from the two parties. Moreover, polling data suggest that the electorate is quite sharply divided along this axis. But the more I learn about this framing of the debate [...]
Sunday’s Papers
A couple of pieces of interest from the Sunday papers: –A common, but very bad mistake. The WaPo writes: Ryan’s plan leaves Medicare benefits untouched for current retirees but, over time, would shift the program from an open-ended guarantee of care to a capped payment to seniors for them to use to purchase private insurance. [...]
FAST on PARADE
Parade Magazine, which I faithfully thumb through each weekend, has an excellent piece up right now that OTE’ers and everyone else who likes an elegant solution to tough problems will very much appreciate. No, it’s not Jennifer A’s engagement, though you can read about that up there too. It this piece on rebuilding America’s schools. [...]
Ryan and the Poor: YOYO vs. WITT
Note this excerpt from an NYT editorial this AM on the impact of Ryan’s budget on vulnerable families: More than three-fifths of the cuts proposed by Mr. Ryan…come from programs for low-income Americans. That means billions of dollars lost for job training for the displaced, Pell grants for students and food stamps for the hungry. [...]
Scattershots from the Road
Quick road trip in progress so just a few scattered impressions from the hotel room, and pre-coffee so I can’t be held accountable. Econowatch: Yesterday’s retail sales numbers were a concern because there’s a negative trend there — see figure — over the last quarter (April, May, June) which corresponds to the slower growth in [...]
Doesn’t the Tea Party Go On Bike Rides?
As someone who often inveighs against the dysfunction Congress, I should tip my hat when they actually, you know…do stuff. Yesterday, they managed to pass the transportation bill and the student loan extension. From the NYT: The transportation legislation extends federal highway, rail and transit programs for 27 months, authorizing $120 billion in spending, financed [...]
This Morning’s Papes
I think I’m more sympathetic to the plight of German Chancellor Angela Merkel than a lot of folks I speak to about this. I mean, the woman faces some extremely tough politics. You think TARP was unpopular? Imagine if it was bailing out Mexico, and you’ll get a feel for what she’s facing from her [...]
A Few Pieces from the Papes
First, Greece. The “pro-bailout” New Democracy party won a plurality of the vote in the Greek election and will now try to form a governing coalition that will try to keep the troubled nation in the Eurozone. But I suspect most folks paying attention to this are wondering two things: 1) what really changes? And [...]
Snippets from the Papes
A few random observations from this AMs papers: –It’s just really rich to hear Republicans in Congress arguing that the President should have gone through them with his new anti-deportation executive order. Sure, the traditional process is a better way to make laws, but that process is totally broken, and the pox is decidedly not [...]
Like I Said…
Three worthy pieces in the Sunday papes on themes I’ve raised here at OTE. OTE’ers who’ve been with me from the beginning will recall that one of my very first posts stressed this same point made by Robert Shiller today and one of the most dangerous analogies in political economy: “families have to tighten their [...]
Saturday’s Pape’s: Muckraking and Personnel
I’m a sucker for good, old-fashioned journalistic muckraking, where reporters doggedly dig, often with the shovel of FOIA, to expose some ripoff or worse. It’s not just the antiseptic of sunlight on the problem, it’s more than that. Those of us who believe that amply funded, “right-sized” government has to play a role in America’s [...]
Jared Bernstein’s areas of expertise include federal and state economic and fiscal policies, income inequality and mobility, trends in employment and earnings, international comparisons, and the analysis of financial and housing markets.
