Economy

Deja Vu

By Donald B. Hawthorne | December 7, 2008 |

As the master of malaprops, Yogi Berra, once said: This is like deja vu all over again. I guess it isn’t enough to pull out all the old books which tackled the realities around the Great Depression and FDR’s New Deal versus the commonly held myths. It now looks like the time to also pull…

Real Stimulus

By Justin Katz | December 6, 2008 |

I suspect that this idea from Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) would have broad support among the Republican Assembly members and sympathizers with whom I’m spending time this evening: Where the Pelosi-Paulson plan takes the taxpayers’ money and puts it under the government’s thumb so that predatory politicians and micromanaging bureaucrats have more and more control…

Told you so….

By Donald B. Hawthorne | December 4, 2008 |

Jim Manzi does good work for all of us in GM’s Magical Thinking: I’ve been working my way through GM’s much-heralded restructuring plan that is being submitted to Congress tomorrow. It’s a lot less work than I thought it might be (though I’m blogging late at night as I’m reading it, so all of my…

Irresponsible talk

By Donald B. Hawthorne | December 3, 2008 |

As a long-time turnaround professional, I deal all the time with companies which only have enough cash left to maintain operations for a limited number of months. It is a setting which requires intense focus, an unrelenting sense of urgency, and the ability to take decisive actions on many, many fronts – usually all at…

Green Jobs to Put Us in the Red

By Justin Katz | December 2, 2008 |

Russ Harding is skeptical of the persistent claims about “green jobs” being an economic stimulus: Economic prosperity requires that we have access to both reliable and affordable energy to heat our homes and power our factories and vehicles. A steep run up in energy costs coincided with an economic recession in the 1970s and is…

A Guide for RI

By Justin Katz | November 28, 2008 |

Jonah Goldberg summarizes for the nation the frame of mind that Rhode Island should take in these tough economic times: … rather than blow money on a lavish reenactment of the New Deal, or continue bailing out undeserving corporations, why not really think outside the box? Rep. Louie Gohmert (R., Texas) suggests an across-the-board reprieve…

Thankful for… Bankruptcy

By Justin Katz | November 27, 2008 |

On last night’s Matt Allen show, Don explained why bankruptcy isn’t such a frightening thing — and far preferable to business restructuring as performed by congressional Democrats. Stream by clicking here, or download it.

Does anyone in Washington, D.C. believe in liberty?

By Donald B. Hawthorne | November 26, 2008 |

Continuing the earlier discussion about the Detroit bailouts, there is a broader debate taking shape: Obama Chief of Staff Hopes to Exploit the Economic Crisis to Expand the Growth of Government: In earlier posts I have emphasized the risk that the combination of economic crisis and unified Democratic control of Congress and the White House…

Robin Hood Government Isn’t an Economic Stimulus

By Justin Katz | November 21, 2008 |

Bryant University Assistant Professor of Economics Edinaldo Tebaldi steps around an important consideration with the following: During recessions, the government often acts as a “buffer” to help revive the economy, Tebaldi said, by increasing spending to generate jobs and boost economic activity. But state government is actually “doing the opposite” by cutting personnel and programs…

Bankruptcy, please

By Donald B. Hawthorne | November 19, 2008 |

Continuing the previous discussion here and here about what should be done about the (formerly) “Big 3” automakers, the Editors at National Review offer their thoughts: Bailout or bankruptcy? For General Motors, the answer is — yes. But mostly the latter. There is no saving GM in its present state and no good argument for…