We econo-types come in lots of different flavors and we all have our demons. Assuming you’d like a Halloween costume that would scare one of us, here’s a handy typology. I even put in a couple of ideas to frighten some of my CBPP friends. Feel free to add others to the comments section. Better… Read more
Archive for the ‘Deficits, Debt and Taxes’ Category
I brought the deficit way down and all I got was…
…crappy poll numbers. Over at PostEverything. Really, this is just genuinely upsetting. It’s one thing to run the numbers but quite another to think about all the unnecessary pain this has caused. You just can never underestimate the destructive power of bad ideas.
The Self-Fulfilling Function of Political Dysfunction
Here’s an engaging oped by Jon Grinspan that makes one of my favorite points, one which is obvious but under-appreciated, I think: generalized and pervasive negativity about government perpetuates broken government. As Grinspan (a name that sounds like the answer to the crossword puzzle clue: “happy central banker”) puts it: First, we need to realize… Read more
Stan’s Plan: Show Me the Money!
Stan Collender is one of my favorite budget wonks, and I don’t say that lightly. His work has a long history of clarity and common sense and I believe we share the same concerns that the direction of fiscal policy in recent years threatens to leave our government without the resources it needs to meet… Read more
Seasonality of Federal Receipts, Outlays, and Deficits
[OK, this one is deeply wonky and you should feel free to skip it. But after writing intensely about policy for months on end, I declare that I’ve earned a pure wonkfest on a statistical topic I’ve always enjoyed: extracting seasonality from time series. And no, I don’t have a lot of friends. And I’m… Read more