This from Foseti is an interesting as well as humorous comment on the perquisites that perhaps should accrue to the rich by virtue of their outsized contribution to government functions. I’m somewhat sympathetic to arguments that “the rich” have too much influence on government, but we should recognize that it is basically their government: “Almost half […]
Archive for March, 2011
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In Defense Of The President’s Libya Action
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 28th, 2011
Last week I wrote a post that questioned President Obama’s decision to commit to military action in Libya. Specifically, I suggested that he was acting outside of his Constitutionally designated power. This opinion piece from the WSJ written by John Yoo (definitely not an apologist for the Left) suggests to me that I was too […]
Economic Malaise And The Changing U.S. Economy
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 28th, 2011
And now for your “put me to sleep reading”, here is a link to a paper on the changes in the American economy and their import. It is getting a lot of positive commentary from the economists’ blogs that I read, so I pass this link on if you have an interest. Truth be told, […]
Ending Mortgage Subsidies
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 28th, 2011
Diana Olick has a good, quick reprise of the manner in which reform (change?) is going to start sweeping over this country’s mortgage finance system. She points out that the FDIC will tomorrow release and vote on new rules which will likely force banks to demand higher downpayments and tighten underwriting criteria while House Republicans […]
Tags: Another Mortgage Mod Failure
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 28th, 2011
More on the futility of mortgage modification programs from the WSJ: A U.S. program that lets mortgage companies refinance “underwater” loans—those for more than a property is worth—if the borrower’s loan balance is cut has received fewer than 300 applications, according to the Federal Housing Administration. Efforts by some states haven’t fared any better. Arizona […]
Consumer Spending Limps Along
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 28th, 2011
The BEA is out with its monthly Personal Income and Outlays report. Here are the headline numbers as reported by Calculated Risk: Personal income increased $38.1 billion, or 0.3 percent … Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $69.1 billion, or 0.7 percent. … Real PCE — PCE adjusted to remove price changes — increased 0.3 percent in […]
Is The American Jobs Machine Still Working
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 25th, 2011
Here’s a few bits of information that might temper any optimism you have about an improving labor market in this country. First, consider this from the WSJ economics blog: The Census Bureau on Wednesday said that 403,765 new firms were started in the 12 months ended March 2009, down 17.3% from a year earlier and the […]
