Rethinking the Economy

Ron Paul and other conservatives have been arguing that Keynesian-style stimulating the economy is a waste of money – so much of what we buy is made overseas that we don’t get much bang for the buck. Is that true? Paul Krugman says no:
Barry Ritholtz sends us to a San Francisco Fed paper from last [...]

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Once upon a time, there was a company called Sears. Many years ago ago – 1989 to be precise – it threatened to dump Princess Illinois and run off with another state unless it was given a tidy sum ($170 million). Princess Illinois forked over the dough, and there was much rejoicing throughout the land. [...]

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I just discovered a useful, entertaining site: the Cry Wolf Project. Here’s what they’re trying to do:
Throughout American history virtually every legislative initiative for progressive reform has been achieved only after bitter struggle by citizens, workers and advocates demanding fundamental rights and protections. In each case, they were met with claims that [...]

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If you aren’t just fired up about how quickly Occupy Wall Street is taking off and you’re still worried about the lack of specific, winnable demands, 2 suggestions:
1) Borrow a teddy bear and hug it out.
2) If that doesn’t work, check out Investing in Chicago Communities: A Jobs Fund for a Future That Works. This [...]

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Courtesy of a friend, just discovered a great site that fits in perfectly with the latest round of Republican hypocrisy over “picking winners and losers”: Pew’s Subsidyscope.
The site has great stats on the way the federal government subsidizes housing, energy, transportation, Finance, and nonprofits. Rather than trying to cover every [...]

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The dustup over Solyndra’s failure is getting more entertaining. Courtesy of a NYT editorial, a great stat. Even by Republican standards, this is pretty impressive:
at least 10 of the 23 Republicans on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee — including Mr. Issa — have lobbied the Department of Energy to approve green projects [...]

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A few weeks ago, the solar panel company Solyndra, which had gotten a loan guarantee from Uncle Sam, went belly up. The Right has been out in full force, arguing that this is a classic example of crony capitalism and an example of how the government is too incompetent to pick winners and losers and [...]

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The next time a conservative tells you that the reason the economy is in bad shape is because taxes and regulations are crushing small businesses, show ‘em this study by McClatchy.
Politicians and business groups often blame excessive regulation and fear of higher taxes for tepid hiring in the economy. However, little evidence of that [...]

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It’s a depressing day to be a Liberal/Progressive — and Tea Party activists aren’t much happier either. And although the cuts look pretty awful, it’s hard to tell in advance whether conservatives will have won a real victory. When the conversation goes from “cutting the government” to cuts to programs folks – or [...]

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On March 20, House freshman and Tea Party backer Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.)
voted for the a Republican House budget that cut billions of dollars, including from many other transportation priorities. His office put out a press release scolding “out of control” and “reckless” federal spending.
But two days before, he was fighting furiously to save [...]

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