Submitted by unsettling economics
Like many of you, I was a bit dismayed when Obama turned to Robert Rubin and his coterie for economic advice. I now admit that I was mistaken. According to Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, Citicorp has been paying Robert Rubin $17 million a year for a part-time job with no responsibility. Judging […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

In this video from August 13, 1962, when the highest marginal individual income tax rate was 91% and the highest marginal corporate tax was 52%, President John F. Kennedy announced his plan to introduce permanent, across-the-board tax cuts for both individuals and corporations. Kennedy argued that both “logic and equity” demanded tax […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

The Census Bureau just released its annual report that includes real, median household income for 2007 ($50,233). From the report:
Between 2006 and 2007, real median household income rose 1.3%, from $49,568 to $50,233 (see top chart above)—a level not statistically different from the 1999 prerecession income peak ($50,641 in 1999 […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
From the Census Bureau: Of households in the lowest income quintile in 2001, 28.6% were in a higher quintile in 2003; of those originally in the highest income quintile, 32.1% were in a lower quintile 2 years later.

In other words, in just a two-year period, 2 out of every 7 households in […]

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Submitted by Econbrowser
“Is the first zone wide recession in the short history of the eurozone about to be registered?” asks Edward Hugh. I was curious to apply the algorithm for calculating my U.S. recession indicator index to a euro area GDP measure to get an answer.
We don’t have a long enough time series on the […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
In their annual summer forecast of the U.S. economy, University of Michigan economists say that three factors have helped our economy stave off a full-blown recession: 1) strong and timely action by the Federal Reserve to prevent financial collapse, 2) temporary tax breaks for households and businesses, and 3) strong demand for […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
The map above (click to enlarge) is from the latest housing report from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), showing the “Four-Quarter Price Change by State” from 2007:Q2 to 2008:Q2 in the OFEHO House Price Index, which averaged -1.7% for the country.

However, notice that the biggest price decreases […]

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