A government of Hottentots
(Washington Post) It was billed as President Obama’s big speech on reducing the federal budget deficit. But the Wednesday afternoon address sounded at times like the speech he did not…
Intervention affects the economy even more when the intervention stops
(New York Times) Among the people anxiously waiting to hear if Congress can reach a budget deal are front desk clerks at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park, manufacturing…
Perspective on the proposed budget cuts
(Reuters) – Congressional negotiators on Wednesday raced against a looming deadline to craft a budget deal that would cut billions of dollars in spending and keep the government operating beyond…
How does adding debt prevent us from default?
Geithner’s suggestion is to raise the amount of debt the borrower can take in. But that only allows the borrower to get further in the hole, and end up owing more every year. If the borrower can’t pay off the debt as it stands, what is to say that he will be able to do so when the debt is more than his income?
A kindred spirit in effort to slay the Juggernaut
Released in 2009, Chris Martenson’s video seminar ‘Crash Course’ provides an excellent analysis of our predicament. Expanding the talk into what he calls “the Three ‘E’s”, this seminar is comprehensive…
A Marxist’s explanation of the 2007-08 crisis
In this short RSA Animate, radical sociologist David Harvey asks if it is time to look beyond capitalism, towards a new social order that would allow us to live within…
Adding to the Problem In Order to Solve It
(Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Tuesday ordered a government-wide review of regulations with the goal of eliminating those that hurt job creation and make the economy less competitive. http://www.cnbc.com/id/41131176/Obama_Wants_to_Shed_Rules_That_Hurt_Job_Growth…
What Is the Most Ridiculous Form of Government Waste Going On Now?
In ‘Juggernaut’, I explain what can be called the ‘effective demand problem’. This is the Keynesian notion that a complex economy breaks down in times of high unemployment because the…
Does size matter in government?
In his Inaugural Address, Obama stated, “The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works, whether it helps families…