Archive for August 24th, 2008
Posted in August 24th, 2008
Submitted by unsettling economics
Do you know who made this extravagant campaign promise?
“We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land. The poor-house is vanishing from among us. We have not yet reached the goal, but, given a chance to go forward with the […]
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Posted in August 24th, 2008
Submitted by Econbrowser
Many people may not care whether our current situation meets the formal definition of a recession, but as I’ve explained previously, you should. Here’s a summary of how I see the economy at the moment. I begin by discussing a new paper by UCLA Professor Ed Leamer, which has also been highlighted by […]
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Posted in August 24th, 2008
Submitted by Econbrowser
Over the past few months, I’ve heard that, while job creation is insufficient to keep unemployment rates constant, job losses have not been consistent with recession. More recently, we’ve heard a slight modification on this “talking point”. Commenting on the August 1 labor market release, WSJ RealTime Economics notes:
So far this year, the […]
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Posted in August 24th, 2008
Submitted by CARPE DIEM
Brian Wesbury in the WSJ last week: “The most painful and frustrating economic policy blunder of the past 50 years was the Great Inflation of the 1970s. Painful, because it was the catalyst for three damaging recessions (1973-75, 1980, 1981-82, see shaded areas above), all the while eroding living standards and seriously […]
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Posted in August 24th, 2008
Submitted by CARPE DIEM
Obama has also promised that “we will get 1 million 150-mile-per-gallon plug-in hybrids on our roads within six years.” What a tranquilizing verb “get” is. This senator, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, is going to get a huge, complex industry to produce, and is going to get […]
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Posted in August 24th, 2008
Submitted by CARPE DIEM
Obama has also promised that “we will get 1 million 150-mile-per-gallon plug-in hybrids on our roads within six years.” What a tranquilizing verb “get” is. This senator, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, is going to get a huge, complex industry to produce, and is going to get […]
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Posted in August 24th, 2008
Submitted by CARPE DIEM
Over the last few decades, the United States has trailed other developed (and some developing) nations on international measures that assess student performance in reading, mathematics, and science. The purpose of the Education Olympics is to contrast America’s tepid academic performance with its athletic dominance. While America’s athletes bring home a trove […]
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Posted in August 24th, 2008
Submitted by CARPE DIEM
David Whitman, in his book “Sweating the Small Stuff: Inner-City Schools and the New Paternalism,” reports that in Chicago, from 2003 through 2006, just three of every 1,000 teachers received an “unsatisfactory” rating in annual evaluations; in 87 “failing schools” — with below average and declining test scores — 69 had no […]
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Posted in August 24th, 2008
Submitted by CARPE DIEM
Tyler Cowen writes in today’s NY Times:
A bursting real estate bubble set off the Japanese recession of the 1990s, which deepened as ailing banks languished. It took Japan’s economy more than a decade to resume steady, noticeable growth.
Will this happen to the United States? Probably not, but we may face […]
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Posted in August 24th, 2008
Submitted by CARPE DIEM
Consider Michael Phelps. Eating a diet loaded with so-called “junk” foods (white bread, fried eggs, and pasta by the pound), the famous Olympic champion downs an astonishing 12,000 calories each day. However, at 6’4” and 195 lbs, Phelps is far from obese or unhealthy. The swimmer’s big appetite and lean physique seems […]
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Posted in August 24th, 2008
Submitted by CARPE DIEM
The superiority of free markets to government regulation is not based upon a magical ability of businesses or even markets to operate flawlessly or at optimal efficiency at all times. Businesses often make huge mistakes, and we have known for centuries that markets are constantly fluctuating, even wildly. Recently the tech bubble […]
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Posted in August 24th, 2008
Submitted by CARPE DIEM
The chart above shows income shares from 2006 IRS data (most recent data available), and the most recent medal shares from the 2008 Olympics (as of 9 a.m. today). Notice the amazingly similar outcome between shares of adjusted gross income earned by the top 5, 10 and 25% of Americans, and the […]
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Posted in August 24th, 2008
Submitted by CARPE DIEM
Last trade: 71% odds for Biden.
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