Here’s a post with two Tea Party supporters, one of whom was once Republican majority leader in Congress. There are differences between the Tea Party movement and libertarianism, but simarities, too. Here’s a description from Reason accompanying the video: Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK7j4bBqhtY Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is the latest victim of the Tea Party insurgency that’s…
Economy
Economy
Unemployment Rate Rises in August
by JOHN ADAMS •
Economy
Foreclosures creep higher – JSOnline
by JOHN ADAMS •
A preliminary count by Madison-based ForeclosureAlarm.com showed 2,511 filings in courts around the state last month, compared with 2,484 in August 2009…. Russell Kashian, a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater professor who tracks foreclosures in the state, put the blame on the job situation. “You aren’t going to see a real improvement in foreclosures unless you see…
Economy, Weird Tales
For Sale: T. Rex, Good Condition, Wooly Mammoth, Needs Repair – WSJ.com
by JOHN ADAMS •
This lingering recession has affected many businesses, great and small. Among those small businesses are any number of unusual and eccentric tourist spots. Many were vulnerable even before the recession, and a good number will likely be lost during these difficult times. Prairie Dog Town, near Oakley, Kan., is for sale, with an asking price…
Economy
Carmen Reinhart Warns That Economic Recovery Could Be Slow – NYTimes.com
by JOHN ADAMS •
At the recent meeting of federal bankers in Wyoming, there was sobering news: Ms. Reinhart’s paper drew upon research she conducted with the Harvard economist Kenneth S. Rogoff for their book “This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly,” published last year by Princeton University Press. Her husband, Vincent R. Reinhart, a former director…
Economy
Second-Quarter GDP Growth Revised Downward – WSJ.com
by JOHN ADAMS •
The U.S. economy grew more sluggish than initially estimated in the second quarter, and corporate profits nearly dried up, further evidence that the recovery is losing steam. Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, rose at an annualized seasonally adjusted rate of 1.6% from April to June, the Commerce Department said…
Economy
Sorman: The Financial Crisis Seen [Clearly] Through Free-Market Eyes
by JOHN ADAMS •
Guy Sorman of City Journal writes at length in the Dallas Morning News about the financial crisis: As in the 1930s and 1970s, so today: Crises are a serious problem, but misguided economic policy makes them worse. After the 1930s, only war production could overcome the negative economic consequences of the New Deal. After the…
Economy, Politics
Those Who Paved the Way
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Economics21, James Capretta assessed the American economy through a Mid-Year Update. Capretta’s assessment relied on Office of Management and Budget projections: The numbers are eye-popping. The budget deficit in 2010 is expected to set a record at $1.471 trillion – or 10% of GDP. In 2011, the administration projects the deficit will again…
Economy
The Recovery Was An Illusion But That’s A Good Thing — Forbes
by JOHN ADAMS •
Sy Harding, in Forbes: Yes, the economic recovery was an illusion. So let’s not talk of double-dips. Let’s face the reality that the real economy’s first dip is still underway, that the real economy is still scraping along a bottom. That’s not a bad thing. It’s better than the thought that the economy recovered but…
Economy, Government Spending, Taxes/Taxation
Bury Keynesian Voodoo Before It Can Bury Us All: Kevin Hassett
by JOHN ADAMS •
If the economy is in deep trouble, there are two economic policy steps that one could take in order to create a positive stimulus: reduce tax rates, or spend more money. (The so-called tax cuts in the 2009 stimulus had little effect because they were primarily credits and deductions, rather than reductions in marginal rates.)…
Economy
LaToya Egwuekwe’s Decline: The Geography of a Recession
by JOHN ADAMS •
Journalist and blogger LaToya Egwuekwe created a depiction of the recession entitled, The Decline: The Geography of a Recession that is as powerful for being so startling. Here’s that depiction, showing the spread of the recession through the increase in unemployment across America: Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ssIhiD8kKM. Sad and astonishing in its subject, this is a video…
Economy
Human/Capuchin Parallels Revisited – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com
by JOHN ADAMS •
So are people hard-wired to make bad decisions, the way monkeys do? Take finance: we tend to play it safe in situations where we stand to make gains. But faced with the risk of a substantial loss, we get nervous and opt for even riskier strategies in the vain hope we can avoid losses altogether….[Researcher…
Economy
Rural America’s Jobs Picture: Slightly Less Unemployment, But Fewer Jobs Available (2009 – 2010)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Economy
June jobs report reveals recession’s still-tight hold on [Wisconsin] state
by JOHN ADAMS •
The report’s findings confirm one thing, and suggest a second. First, regardless of the different solutions economists have for remedying our troubled economy, there’s general agreement that difficult conditions persist. Second, although the state is seeing hard times, not every community will feel the same hardships. Unemployment is not uniformly distributed across the state. Some…