Economy
To Love, or Blame, the Fed?
Ben Bernanke's moves at the Fed have rightly attracted much praise in the last month after better-than-expected GDP and unemployment reports pointed to the end of the Great Recession. READ MORE >>
Worth Reading
Union official to lead NY Fed board of directors. U.S. bond yields point to sluggish recovery. Economists disagree on how fast the economy will--or can--grow. READ MORE >>
When Did Innovation Start Hurting Society?
Madoff Has Cancer, Too. Why Not Release Him or At Least Send Him Home on House Arrest?
The New York Post and Reuters both report not exactly that Bernie Madoff has cancer. But that he's told his fellow inmates that he has cancer, pancreatic cancer, at that. Which means that, if the tale is true, he'll be a goner soon, very soon. Unless there's a medical miracle, as sometimes there is even in such terrible afflictions of the pancreas. READ MORE >>
Obama, Micromanaging, and the WSJ Revisited
A reader e-mailed just before I went on vacation to quibble with my take on the Journal's "A President as Micromanager" story from two weeks ago. In my item, I argued that the piece's premise was off-base--the Journal was confusing micromanaging with craving detailed information on which to base incredibly consequential decisions. So far, so good. READ MORE >>
The Burden Is on the Inflation Hawks
The Wall Street Journal has a useful piece up today about the historical analogy that looms large in the minds of administration economic officials: 1937, the year the Fed, FDR, and Congress prematurely tightened economic policy and sent the economy back into a deep recession after several years of recovery. READ MORE >>
Lifting the Shadow Off the Tax System
The fact is that it did not happen until Barack Obama became president. It was a standing offense to American tax justice that probably hundreds of thousands of our very rich countrymen brazenly avoided the reach of the Internal Revenue Service simply by transferring (much of) their wealth to foreign banks in Switzerland and about 15 other countries, which protected the identities of these depositors by their laws. READ MORE >>
Should Health Care Be on The Backburner?
While the attention of politicians, pundits, and the people is focused on the increasingly bitter debate over health insurance reform, economic developments will have a more profound effect on the well-being of the nation and the fortunes of the Obama administration. Only an economy that provides a steady stream of new jobs and raises personal income can yield enough revenue to restore public confidence and finance the government we need. READ MORE >>
Waiting For The Fed's Next Apology
In November 2002, Ben Bernanke apologized--for the Fed's role in causing the Great Depression of the 1930s. "I would like to say to Milton [Friedman] and Anna [Schwartz]: Regarding the Great Depression. You're right, we did it. We're very sorry. But thanks to you, we won't do it again" (conclusion of this speech). READ MORE >>
