Submitted by Econbrowser
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich (hat tip: Economist’s View) offered some thoughts Friday about democracy and the Federal Reserve. Both his insights and his errors are instructive.

Reich writes:
You probably learned in school the United States government has three branches. Actually there’s a fourth, in some ways more powerful than the other three. […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
 
MINNEAPOLIS–As copper prices surge above $4 per pound (see chart above), thieves in Minneapolis are ransacking house after house in search of copper they can sell to scrap dealers for as much as $20,000 a month.
Thieves most often hit foreclosed homes, but not always. They broke into Keili Mac’s Minneapolis home while […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
During presidential elections, when candidates postulate this or that “crisis” for which each is the indispensable and sufficient cure, economic hypochondria is encouraged, so a sense of suffering is rampant.
Deranged by the entitlement mentality fostered by a metastasizing welfare state, Americans now have such low pain thresholds that suffering is defined as […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

IMF–Global growth is projected to slow to 3.73% in 2008, ½% lower than at the time of the January World Economic Outlook Update and 1¼% lower than the 4.94% growth recorded in 2007. Moreover, growth is projected to remain broadly unchanged in 2009 (see chart above). The U.S. economy will tip into […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
The chart above was created using World GDP data from the IMF, U.S. GDP data from the BEA via FRED, and 2008 forecasts from the IMF for world GDP and U.S. GDP. The U.S. share of world GDP fell below 26% in 2007 for the first time since 1996, and is […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
When a reform government was elected in New Zealand in 1984, it identified three problems: too much spending, too much taxing and too much government.
We asked some fundamental questions of government agencies. The first question was, “What are you doing?” The second question was, “What should you be doing?” Based on the […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
WALL STREET JOURNAL–The credit crunch has made it harder for Americans to indulge in their love affair with debt. So what are they doing? Borrowing more.
While tighter lending standards have cut off all but the most credit-worthy borrowers from auto loans and home loans, many people are turning to credit cards and […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

1. Indian consulates in the U.S. now outsource all visa applications to a private company - Travisa. Not so long ago, getting a visa from the Indian consulates across the country was a nightmare; now, applicants are all smiles thanks to the smooth functioning of the method of outsourcing such requests. MP: […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
According to Entrepreneur.com (from September 2007):

Record stores
Camera film manufacturing
Crop dusters
Gay bars
Newspapers
Pay phones
Used bookstores
Piggy banks
Telemarketing
Coin-operated arcades

(HT: Ben Cunningham)
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