- On minimum wage: noting President Obama’s proposal in the SOTU, outlining the classic arguments on both sides of the debate, showing that the $9 proposed by the White House is right in line with past increases (i.e., if you take the natural logarithms) and explaining why certain criticisms of the increase are misguided.
- Considering the President’s pre-k proposal in light of important relationships between the increase in inequality and diminished opportunities for less advantaged kids.
- Describing why the budget hawks should retract their talons.
- Looking at the evolution of health care spending, and how slower growing health costs might help job growth.
- Wondering why central banks are alone in fighting for growth.
- Laying out the case of the Federal Housing Administration as a microcosm of the role of government when markets fail.
- Unpacking the State of the Union, the morning after.
- Highlighting Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen’s remarkable speech, and delving a bit deeper into the speech’s substance.
- On economic growth: thinking about the divergent views from a fun CNBC Squawk Box segment, and showing the relationship between GDP and output gaps.
Music: an outsourced Friday Musical Interlude, Caribbean-style.