Archive for the ‘government’ Category

Chasing Our Tails

Though it’s not of great import, this story about the ACA conflicting with Americans with Disabilities Act is too good to pass up. The Cliff Notes version is that the ACA allows companies to offer financial incentives to employees who participate inworkplace wellness programs. You know, obesity, smoking cessation programs, etc. The quid pro quo […]

Is Government Employment Shrinking

The WSJ Real Time Economics blog, hereafter to be known as the WSJ-RTE blog, attempts to make a case for a shrinking federal government workforce. Their graph of federal employees would seem to validate that claim. Now, that’s not the only governmental unit which employs people. The states and local municipalities also chip in and […]

Data Mining At The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Why? Officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are conducting a massive, NSA-esque data-mining project collecting account information on an estimated 991 million American credit card accounts. It was also learned at a Congressional hearing Tuesday that CFPB officials are working with the Federal Housing Finance Agency on a second data-mining effort, this one focused on the 53 million residential mortgages taken […]

Belated Thoughts On The Government Shutdown

I know it’s yesterday’s news, but I’ve been busy and I do have a couple of observations about the government shutdown I want to air. First off though I should confess that I found the entire episode to be more about exercises in political theater than any attempt to govern by either side of the […]

John Cochrane Opines On The Next Fed Chair

The press mostly  wants a soothsayer, who will foresee events the market does not see and calm the waters — in practice,  basically operating the worlds largest contrarian hedge fund, or the commissariat of macroeconomic central planning. Such people don’t exist, so that’s a self-defeating job description. Let’s talk about reality. That’s John Cochrane introduction […]

The EPA’s Ethanol Mandate Exception

Last week I wrote a short piece on Kim Strassel’s article about the lone refiner which was exempted from the EPA’s ethanol mandates. Briefly, these mandates force refiners to blend a certain amount of ethanol into their gasoline. The problem is that the level mandated exceeds the amount needed for the current level of gasoline production. […]

Fannie, Freddie, EPA And Big Money

If you think reform of the mortgage system which includes ridding the world of Fannie and Freddie  is likely you might want to consider this. Fannie Mae said it will make a $10.2 billion dividend payment in September to the U.S. Treasury for its rescue aid. After that payment, which comes on the heels of […]