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Tell Us What You Really Think, Chuck

GMU Econ professor, Charles Rowley, takes issue with Robert Rubin’s call to affect a retroactive reinstatement of the estate tax.  Regardless of my opinion on his larger point, I appreciated his invective: I have discussed the views and personal career of Robert Rubin before in these columns, so I shall not track back over the reason Full Text

Those Dred Policies That Got Us Here

They told me that if I didn’t vote for Obama… From the WaPo: With the recovery faltering less than two months before the November congressional elections, President Obama’s economic team is considering another big dose of stimulus in the form of tax breaks for businesses – potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars, according Full Text

Hoover v Roosevelt (v Obama & Others)

As a follow up to Gregg’s last post (with out regard to you know who.) From Russ Robert’s EconTalk podcast: David Kennedy of Stanford University and the author of Freedom from Fear talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the Great Depression and its political and economic relevance. Kennedy talks about the economic policies of Hoover Full Text

Michael Barone channels MarkT

Big Units: In the 1930s Americans supposedly lost faith in markets and rallied to government. But if you go back and look at public opinion polling then, you find something rather different. You find majorities grumbling about Big Government, scorning Big Business and opposing Big Labor. The 1940s were different. Facing the threat of total war, Franklin Full Text

How True

Ross Douthat on Glenn Beck’s mega-rally at the Lincoln Memorial the other day: Similarly, one could call the rally a gross affront to the memory of King, who presumably wouldn’t have cared much for Beck’s right-wing politics. But one could also call the day a strange, unlooked-for fulfillment of King’s prophecies: 47 years Full Text

Unfortunate Illusions

When I was an undergrad in finance I had a remarkable teacher, Dick Smith, who taught a course in Banking.  Smith’s resume included a long stint as CFO of Potlatch Corp which made him unusual as a Biz Prof simply for his deep real world experience. Fortunately for us (and I suppose Smith too) Smith authored Full Text

Got Nuthin’

As Craig pointed out below, even the NY Times is starting to question the efficacy of President Obama’s $787,000,000,000.00 stimulus plan. It’s no wonder, given that we have now spent $505,000,000,000.00 to create what is self-reported as 749,597 jobs. (For those of you keeping track at home, that’s $673,695.00 per job.) Even people who believe in Full Text

The Bailout Will Not Be Televised

From Andy Harless: Americans got angry when the federal government tried to bail out banks by buying assets or taking capital positions. Whatever you may think of those bailout programs, they at least had the advantage that taxpayers were getting something in return for their money. There is another bank Full Text

Genesis

Adam and Eve are coming to town. No, not this Adam and Eve: This one.  You know, the “anal sex toys” and “kinky bondage” people. Not only are they coming to town, they’re opening up right on Central Avenue in good old downtown Great Falls. I must preface this whole piece by pointing out that I am not Full Text

‘Red Corner’

Talk about a forgotten slice of Montana history: A new history monograph, Red Corner: The Rise and Fall of Communism in Northeastern Montana, details the history of communism in Sheridan County (Plentywood). This was real, hard-core, hammer-and-sickle communism; the county elected a communist state senator (also the editor of The Producers News) and a sheriff. They Full Text

David Brooks & Gail Collins Talk Montana

Sort-of-conservative columnist David Brooks went on vacation to Glacier, which he says might be his favorite state (thanks David, we’ll try not to totally hate on you). Anyways, he is now back on the East Coast to tell snarky lib columnist Gail Collins the skinny. Verdict: Anger, disillusionment, etc. At least he’s self-deprecating (I think): David Brooks: After Full Text

The “Recovery Summer”

Geez, I wish I was still on vacation. I was feeling pretty optimistic this morning about 6:00 AM.  Of course that optimism was little more than the fruit of a good night’s sleep.  After all, there seems little that really gives the investing class much hope for finding any up-side catalyst.  And I’m guilty of confusing Full Text

Economy

Those Dred Policies That Got Us Here

They told me that if I didn’t vote for Obama… From the WaPo: With the recovery faltering less than two months before the November congressional elections, President Obama’s economic team is considering another big dose of stimulus in the form of tax breaks for businesses – potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars, according Full Article

Michael Barone channels MarkT

Big Units: In the 1930s Americans supposedly lost faith in markets and rallied to government. But if you go back and look at public opinion polling then, you find something rather different. You find majorities grumbling about Big Government, scorning Big Business and opposing Big Labor. The 1940s were different. Facing the threat of total war, Franklin Full Article

Unfortunate Illusions

When I was an undergrad in finance I had a remarkable teacher, Dick Smith, who taught a course in Banking.  Smith’s resume included a long stint as CFO of Potlatch Corp which made him unusual as a Biz Prof simply for his deep real world experience. Fortunately for us (and I suppose Smith too) Smith authored Full Article

Got Nuthin’

As Craig pointed out below, even the NY Times is starting to question the efficacy of President Obama’s $787,000,000,000.00 stimulus plan. It’s no wonder, given that we have now spent $505,000,000,000.00 to create what is self-reported as 749,597 jobs. (For those of you keeping track at home, that’s $673,695.00 per job.) Even people who believe in Full Article

The Bailout Will Not Be Televised

From Andy Harless: Americans got angry when the federal government tried to bail out banks by buying assets or taking capital positions. Whatever you may think of those bailout programs, they at least had the advantage that taxpayers were getting something in return for their money. There is another bank Full Article

The “Recovery Summer”

Geez, I wish I was still on vacation. I was feeling pretty optimistic this morning about 6:00 AM.  Of course that optimism was little more than the fruit of a good night’s sleep.  After all, there seems little that really gives the investing class much hope for finding any up-side catalyst.  And I’m guilty of confusing Full Article

Pondering Consensus

Arnold Kling quotes Felix Salmon: the main message from the big conference on Fannie and Freddie is that there’s a broad-based consensus, Rick Santelli rants notwithstanding, that large-scale government participation in the housing market is necessary to prevent further house-price declines. Kling responds: Old consensus: we need Freddie and Fannie in order to make Full Article

Wait a Minute…

The banking industry said borrowers weren’t sending back their paperwork. They also have accused the Obama administration of initially pressuring them to sign up borrowers without insisting first on proof of their income. When banks later moved to collect the information, many troubled homeowners were disqualified or dropped out. Didn’t this have something to do with Full Article

Interesting Take on Unemployment

I thought this was interesting: Some workers agree that unemployment benefits make them less likely to take whatever job comes along, particularly when those jobs don’t pay much. Michael Hatchell, a 52-year-old mechanic in Lumberton, N.C., says he turned down more than a dozen offers during the 59 weeks he was unemployed, Full Article

…and Don’t Let The Door Hit You On The…

The president’s chairwoman of his Council of Economic Advisers, Christian Romer,  has decided to turn the page and go back to academia.  Since some of us noticed a long time ago that she previously traded in her well justified credentials for a tour as a politically appointed economic call girl, one might question how she Full Article