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In his recent book, Aftershock, Robert Reich builds a strong case for the disparity between the top income earners and the rest of us as the basis for our current economic turmoil. He argues that there will be chronic, structural economic problems if those who produce goods are not able to purchase them. Reich defines … More Two economies: The market basket and The Market
One of the most vivid images of the Gulf oil spill is that of Governor Bobby Jindal walking the shoreline and lambasting the administration for not moving quickly to build sand berms to protect the shore. He argued passionately that something had to be done and that the administration was failing. What the administration did … More Jindal’s berms: Critical thinking and politics
The tax extension compromise of 2010 will add 900 billion dollars to the national debt with the goal of accelerating the economic recovery. To agree to the compromise the Republicans held firm to extending the tax cuts to income in excess of $250,000. This action by itself will add $120 billion* to the national debt … More $120 Billion is a lot of pork
I’ve long believed there was a fundamental misunderstanding of how our tax system works that has lead to groundless support for extending the Bush tax cuts to incomes over $250,000. I partially addressed the topic in a previous posting, The arithmetic of taxing the “rich”. What I did not address was how the message was being … More Bipartisan support for tax cuts for everyone.
I hear some people pining for “the good old days” and how good things used to be. Many times it seems like those same voices are also quick to fault the “socialist” programs of the Obama administration as the reason we are not enjoying the same prosperity as we did “back in the day”. If … More Top fractiles income share and the “good old days”
A premise of accountability is that people should believe what they are saying is true. Speaking in a recent Today Show interview, Representative Michele Bachmann argued that extending the Bush tax cuts for incomes over $250,000 was good for the working class. As her example she said that a plumber or a carpet layer with … More Accountability
Is the answer to “Is 1+1=2” based in one’s belief or is it factual? How about, “Is the recession over?” Both are fact based. In a recent CNN poll* the question was asked, “Do you believe the recession is over?”. 74% responded saying the recession is not over. This seems like a silly question to … More Is the recession over and do you believe 1+1=2?
In his campaign for the US Senate, Crist has one of the best messages available and he’s not getting it across to the public. It is a widely held opinion that congress has become almost completely dysfunctional and there appears to be agreement that a major contributing factor is unbridled partisanship. The question Crist should … More I’m really disappointed by Governor Charlie Crist
Its a classic example of effectively controlling a message. The proponents of extending the Bush tax cuts appear to have won the battle for defining the message that resonates with a large segment of the voters, “You don’t need a tax increase”. The fact that the sound bite message is based on a false premise … More The arithmetic of taxing the “rich”
There are two ways to make decisions, either based on emotion or based on intellect. Neither one is intrinsically better than the other and the fact that there are two drivers for our decisions and actions reflects our uniquely human nature. There are times when emotions should be the foundation of our actions and times … More “Fly the damn plane”
Confronting Mediocrity 