Economy
Six days after I noted the new congressional districts in RI, the ProJo has taken notice and did some digging: We weren’t sure who to call to clarify the confusion. “We do not know who represents the 86th and 5th Congressional Districts,” Governor Carcieri spokeswoman Amy Kempe told Political Scene with a chuckle. “Unfortunately, I…
Saturday Night Live’s most recent parody of President Obama (he’s finally fair-game, apparently) calls attention to his “Wimpy Economics”–pay now, and we promise you’ll receive later. Right. “I am noticing that each of your plans to save money involves spending even more money.” Health care “reform” is but the latest example–cuts and taxes will kick…
Just wanted to mark this final stage in the incremental establishment of the green religion as the official doctrine of the land: New major public projects and building renovations in Rhode Island, including schools, must be designed and constructed in conformance with high-performance green-building standards, according to legislation signed by Governor Carcieri. The law applies…
Henry Aaron and Isabel Sawhill, of the Brookings Institute, provide a wonderful example of the insanity of allowing individuals to plan large segments of the economy: So here is what we propose: Congress should enact a value-added tax, the equivalent of a broad-based sales tax on all goods and services. It should take effect only…
According to Rasmussen (h/t): Data from Rasmussen Reports national telephone surveys shows that 15.0% of Democrats in the workforce are currently unemployed and looking for a job. Among adults not affiliated with either major party, that number is 15.6% while just 9.9% of Republicans are in the same situation….The percentage of unemployed Democrats has grown…
It’s Political Maneuvering 101 to encase your preferred issues within a popular Trojan Horse. So, if green is what you mean, declare its ability to end joblessness. However pretty a landscape that may paint, though, it’s of questionable accuracy: Green technology may help drive an economic recovery in New England but the fledgling industry will…
Rhode Island’s saving grace, on this sort of graphic showing state-by-state unemployment rates, is that the folks creating the images continue to use “higher than 10%” as the top category. So, a baker’s dozen of other states have joined us in that group, but conspicuously, none of them are north of the Carolinas or east…
Remember those big auto bailouts? Did you know they were never really intended to save Chrysler or GM? At least that’s what Newsweek Senior Editor Dainel Gross says (h/t Mickey Kaus)…By the time the government got there, the companies had essentially failed. A year ago, the choice facing the bondholders, shareholders, and executives of GM,…
Well, here’s a surprising admission: Christina Romer, the chair of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, said the initial jolt of the $787 billion stimulus expanded the economy in the second and third quarters of this year. But she said the remaining spending will simply keep the economy from slipping. In other words, shoving…
Anybody catch the following in a Sunday Projo article about yet another economy-restricting practice? The solution he refers to is the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, a set of standards for residential real estate appraisals that grew out of an investigation of the mortgage industry by New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo. The code…