Economy
An economy is like water: It can’t expand unless it has somewhere to go, artificially adding more volume will only cause a limited and temporary upward surge, and the extra must be taken from somewhere else. This is the image that came to mind in response to our Senators’ suggestions that the nation might need…
James Poulus observes: I’ve said elsewhere that our vision of politics is being corrupted by a well-meaning but misguided epistemology of compassion: increasingly, we consider the person or group demanding a right to be the most trustworthy source of information about whether they deserve it. Anyone aggrieved, we think, must really be suffering grief, and…
This story confounds categorization: Eastern District of Michigan judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff handed down the decision, in a case involving an alleged violation of the constitutional separation of church and state. The issue is whether a government-owned company, AIG, can market sharia-compliant insurance products. (To be sharia-compliant, an investment vehicle must be created and structured…
Justin beat me to the punch, but here’s the link to the AP story he mentioned about the budget deficit. More: The new record deficit this year — driven by the federal government’s efforts at bailing out financial institutions and automakers, the $787-billion economic stimulus act that Congress approved one month into Obama’s term and…
Dave Cribbin, quoted in yesterday’s WSJ: In the Chrysler deal, the [United Auto Workers] were unsecured creditors and the Chrysler bondholders were secured creditors. The bondholders received 28% of the value of their $6.9 billion in bonds in cash; the Union will receive stock worth approximately $4.2 billion, and a note for an additional $4.58…
Michael Morse has up a humorous post describing his personal household deficit reduction plan, but his intended point isn’t quite clear. It’s worth reading the whole thing for enjoyment, though, before making it a subject of discussion. In some respects, he illustrates well the things that families actually do have to cut back, but that…
I’ll admit some jealousy. Over the course of a year, Matt Allen built a brand new radio gig into the number 1 show in its slot. His previous experience had been limited to production and some periodic shows here and there on the schedule. For his show’s one-year anniversary, his company threw him a big…
In light of this story (“Auto Retirees Brace for Hardship“), Michael Barone observes: Liberals like to argue that defined contribution pension plans, in which you and your employer contribute money and you invest it, don’t provide absolute protection, because you may invest the money foolishly or the whole market may go down. And they’re right.…
Among the problems of government central planning is that the segment of society that is apt to make decisions that skirt the rules is the same one that must enforce them. Take, for instance, information that’s coming out as a result of Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis’s testimony to New York Attorney General Andrew…
David Goldman (aka “Spengler“) writes in First Things: After a $15 trillion reduction in asset values, Americans are now saving as much as they can. Of course, if everyone saves and no one spends, the economy shuts down, which is precisely what is happening. The trouble is not that aging baby boomers need to save.…