Economy
Anti-poverty activists have thrown down the gauntlet to those of us lucky enough to eat regularly and (as obesity statistics show) too much. Anti-poverty activists are challenging Rhode Island residents to spend just $4.50 a day on food for a week as part of a campaign to draw attention to the importance of funding for…
It comes around once a year in the missal for the Catholic Mass, and the lector, standing before his or her neighbors to read the holy words very often exudes a palpable discomfort: Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For…
Trying to figure out this Occupy thing? Right now, this seems to explain it the best (h/t):Remember this bit by Louis CK (thanks for reminding me, Will)? Protest song! …a sultan and student both have iPhone 4s…it’s not fair Overall, much of the logic seems to go something like this (h/t): ADDENDUM: I put this…
Megan McCardle looked at Netflix/Qwikster and explains how the problem is a business model over reliant on marginal cost pricing. It’s an object lesson that can be extended to, for example, health care costs. [P]eople were confusing the marginal cost with the average cost. Content providers were willing to license their movies and television shows…
Generational warfare: It’s bound to happen here in Rhode Island with the pension crisis. It’s also happening nationally on the budget deficit debate with the new Super Congressional panel set to convene. Education Policy wonk Rick Hess offers his perspective: You’re either with the kids or with those rushing to the ramparts to defend retiree…
William Jacobson makes an interesting point regarding the intersection of the economy and electoral politics: Workers giving up hope, thereby keeping the unemployment rate artificially low, is keeping Obama’s reelection hopes alive. If the headlines screamed that unemployment was 11.4%, even I might begin to believe [that the U.S.A. would not give Obama a second…
Solyndra is a manufacturer of solar panels–a green technology!–and was given half a billion dollars in loan guarantees by the Federal Government. Oh, and a major Obama donor, George Kaiser, was also a financial backer of the the company. Now it looks like they’re going under: A company that served as a showcase for the…
First, a chart and explanation from Investors Business Daily (h/t): Under President Obama, while the economy is struggling to grow and create jobs, the federal regulatory business is booming. Regulatory agencies have seen their combined budgets grow a healthy 16% since 2008, topping $54 billion, according to the annual “Regulator’s Budget,” compiled by George Washington…
This is precisely the thinking that has to end: The two-phase plan will require Obama to argue for spending more money in the short term while reducing the federal deficit over a longer period. Many economists support that combination, saying that cuts in spending should wait until the economy is stronger. But political strategists say…
The other day, I made reference to the possibility that having an economy calibrated to two-income households, rather than the one-income households that were once the norm, is a hindrance on entrepreneurial ventures. Yes, if one spouse’s attempt to create a business fails, the other spouse’s income remains, but in the current marketplace, both incomes…