According to Obama and the Dems, "We can't just drill our way out of the the problem."
Tell that to North Dakota and the Energy Information Administration www.eia.gov
Friday, June 8, 2012
We can't just drill our way out of the problem
Eli,
According to Obama and the Dems, "We can't just drill our way out of the the problem."
Tell that to North Dakota and the Energy Information Administration www.eia.gov
Bill
According to Obama and the Dems, "We can't just drill our way out of the the problem."
Tell that to North Dakota and the Energy Information Administration www.eia.gov
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
The Consequences of Our Debt
Eli,
The US will be able to borrow cheaply until it can't. That day may come without warning. We can ignore that risk believing now is not the time to grapple with this issue, but it is a risk.
There's another issue. Savings equals investment. When you save a dollar, it goes into the bank, or into the market. Investment equals growth. Investment drives productivity. Productivity drives wage growth. These aren't Chicago School versus Keynesian concepts. This is 2+2=4 kind of stuff.
We borrow to subsidize the wealthy and middle class with things like Medicare, Social Security, farm subsidies and the Ex-Im Bank. Our children are left with the debt. It's lucky for us old well-off people the young aren't aware of the massive inter-generational Ponzi scheme we are playing with them. If they knew they would riot.
Bill
CBO projects US debt will be double GDP by 2037
By Erik Wasson
U.S. debt will be nearly twice the size of the U.S. economy by 2037, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office warned Tuesday.
The new CBO report warns that increased entitlement spending driven by the retirement of the baby boomers and insufficient revenue is making the long-term outlook for the national debt increasingly dire.
Under CBO's most likely scenario, in which lawmakers extend current tax rates and fail to curb entitlement spending, debt held by the public would reach 109 percent of the economy by 2026, and it would be almost 200 percent of GDP by 2037.
Link: http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/230901-cbo-warns-of-grim-long-term-debt-outlook
By Erik Wasson
U.S. debt will be nearly twice the size of the U.S. economy by 2037, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office warned Tuesday.
The new CBO report warns that increased entitlement spending driven by the retirement of the baby boomers and insufficient revenue is making the long-term outlook for the national debt increasingly dire.
Under CBO's most likely scenario, in which lawmakers extend current tax rates and fail to curb entitlement spending, debt held by the public would reach 109 percent of the economy by 2026, and it would be almost 200 percent of GDP by 2037.
Link: http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/230901-cbo-warns-of-grim-long-term-debt-outlook
What Do the Democrats Want?
Eli,
Help me understand what the Democrats want.
They hate George Bush for many reasons, but at least economically he followed the precise policy prescription they offer: Lots of spending, lots of tax cuts. Yet these are the policies that "got us in the mess we are in," "resulted in the worst economy since the Great Depression," and "drove the car into the ditch."
And they love Obama. But at least recently (see recent comments by Krugman, Jay Carney) they say Obama has been the austerity President, following the precise policies that will lead us into another recession.
Bush did what they wanted and they hate him. Obama has done what they hate and they love him. Seriously, what do the Democrats want?
Bill.
Help me understand what the Democrats want.
They hate George Bush for many reasons, but at least economically he followed the precise policy prescription they offer: Lots of spending, lots of tax cuts. Yet these are the policies that "got us in the mess we are in," "resulted in the worst economy since the Great Depression," and "drove the car into the ditch."
And they love Obama. But at least recently (see recent comments by Krugman, Jay Carney) they say Obama has been the austerity President, following the precise policies that will lead us into another recession.
Bush did what they wanted and they hate him. Obama has done what they hate and they love him. Seriously, what do the Democrats want?
Bill.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Obama to Wisconsin Unions: Drop Dead
Eli,
Do you find it strange the Democrats haven't gone to the mattresses over the Walker recall in Wisconsin? Walker has killed the only growing union in the US, public sector unions. Eliminating collective bargaining on key items and forcing unions to collect their own dues instead of government collection, kills the union.
Unions are the key fundraising source for Democrats and provide much of the sweat equity in campaigns.
Why aren't the Democrats moving heaven and earth to win in Wisconsin?
Losing in Wisconsin has large and lasting repercussions for the Dems.
Bill
Do you find it strange the Democrats haven't gone to the mattresses over the Walker recall in Wisconsin? Walker has killed the only growing union in the US, public sector unions. Eliminating collective bargaining on key items and forcing unions to collect their own dues instead of government collection, kills the union.
Unions are the key fundraising source for Democrats and provide much of the sweat equity in campaigns.
Why aren't the Democrats moving heaven and earth to win in Wisconsin?
Losing in Wisconsin has large and lasting repercussions for the Dems.
Bill
Obama's Hollow Argument
Eli,
I don't understand how Obama thinks he is going to win this election by pointing out how poorly the economy is doing. It seems that every time the President, or one of the President's supporters opens his or her mouth the first words are, "The economy is not doing as well as it should." The second thing they have been saying, recently, is well summarized by David Axelrod on yesterday's "Face the Nation."
"No one is arguing if Mitt Romney is qualified to be President. What we are arguing is whether he is qualified to call himself a "job creator," that's not what he did in his business, uh, that's not the purpose of his business, uh, and it's certainly not what he did in Massachusetts where they had one of the worst economic records, uh, in the country, so, when you hold yourself out as an economic oracle and you say to people, "Trust me. I know how to move the country forward," and your record says something else, of course you're going to challenged for that."
Tell me. If in sentence one you are saying the economy should be better, and in sentence two you are criticizing someone for saying "Trust me, I know how to move the country forward," aren't you saying Obama shouldn't be trusted to move the country forward? It seems like such an odd argument.
Bill
I don't understand how Obama thinks he is going to win this election by pointing out how poorly the economy is doing. It seems that every time the President, or one of the President's supporters opens his or her mouth the first words are, "The economy is not doing as well as it should." The second thing they have been saying, recently, is well summarized by David Axelrod on yesterday's "Face the Nation."
"No one is arguing if Mitt Romney is qualified to be President. What we are arguing is whether he is qualified to call himself a "job creator," that's not what he did in his business, uh, that's not the purpose of his business, uh, and it's certainly not what he did in Massachusetts where they had one of the worst economic records, uh, in the country, so, when you hold yourself out as an economic oracle and you say to people, "Trust me. I know how to move the country forward," and your record says something else, of course you're going to challenged for that."
Tell me. If in sentence one you are saying the economy should be better, and in sentence two you are criticizing someone for saying "Trust me, I know how to move the country forward," aren't you saying Obama shouldn't be trusted to move the country forward? It seems like such an odd argument.
Bill
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Is He Toast?
Bill
Your amazement regarding the Presidents ongoing buoyancy in the polls is well placed, especially in light of May's dispiriting jobs numbers. But my guess is that the encouraging poll numbers represent an illusion for Democrats (including myself) and the president. I googled the Reagan Carter numbers for comparison and they tell a very clear story. Until a week before the election, Carter led most surveys, yet he was never going to win (unless he could portray Reagan as a dangerous lunatic, and that was never going to happen). The number that really mattered was Carter's historically dismal approval rating; 31% on election day and not much better for months beforehand. At 48%, Obama is not quite out of the game but he is in a great deal of trouble.
While I, along with many economists, do not fault the President for the tepid recovery from the Great Recession of 2008, he and the Dems will have to play the hand they're dealt. And the Europeans incapacity for avoiding disaster can only damage his chances further (not to mention my retirement portfolio).
So we are going to have a nasty election in which the Repubs are going to to what they do best, which is to belittle and dirty up the other guy. On the other side, a sharp elbowed Chicago poll is going to do everything he can to disqualify the challenger, because that may be his only hope of holding onto the White House.
Eli
Your amazement regarding the Presidents ongoing buoyancy in the polls is well placed, especially in light of May's dispiriting jobs numbers. But my guess is that the encouraging poll numbers represent an illusion for Democrats (including myself) and the president. I googled the Reagan Carter numbers for comparison and they tell a very clear story. Until a week before the election, Carter led most surveys, yet he was never going to win (unless he could portray Reagan as a dangerous lunatic, and that was never going to happen). The number that really mattered was Carter's historically dismal approval rating; 31% on election day and not much better for months beforehand. At 48%, Obama is not quite out of the game but he is in a great deal of trouble.
While I, along with many economists, do not fault the President for the tepid recovery from the Great Recession of 2008, he and the Dems will have to play the hand they're dealt. And the Europeans incapacity for avoiding disaster can only damage his chances further (not to mention my retirement portfolio).
So we are going to have a nasty election in which the Repubs are going to to what they do best, which is to belittle and dirty up the other guy. On the other side, a sharp elbowed Chicago poll is going to do everything he can to disqualify the challenger, because that may be his only hope of holding onto the White House.
Eli
This Little Piggy Went To Market
Bill,
I don't really know what to make of the Faceboook faceplant, other than that a lot of people who thought they might get rich quick and didn't are now unreasonably pissed about it. The lawsuits make me laugh, as you like to say. But I don't understand how the opening price of a stock's IPO is the product of market forces. Isn't it the product of the best guess of the underwriters as to what the stock can fetch? Once the bell wrings the market takes over yes, and the guess turns out to be a good one or a bad one no?
Eli
I don't really know what to make of the Faceboook faceplant, other than that a lot of people who thought they might get rich quick and didn't are now unreasonably pissed about it. The lawsuits make me laugh, as you like to say. But I don't understand how the opening price of a stock's IPO is the product of market forces. Isn't it the product of the best guess of the underwriters as to what the stock can fetch? Once the bell wrings the market takes over yes, and the guess turns out to be a good one or a bad one no?
Eli
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