Taking Stock

Posted on 1 August 2011 by Erik Hare | 17 Comments

As I am writing this, it seems that a deal has been worked out in Washington to avoid a federal default. No one is happy with the deal, which is to be expected, but I sense that many people are livid about the process. This is especially true for Progressives, who seem to view the entire experience as a massive defeat.

One good thing came out of it all, however – the public and the media are engaged in a discussion of our economy and what to do about it like never before.

I think it is time to pause for a moment and see just where we are in the national discussion before we move ahead. This post is a series of polls that I hope will help us all focus on how this debate will stay engaged and productive. As always, please leave your more general thoughts beyond the questions in the comments.

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Searching for Good News

Posted on 29 July 2011 by Erik Hare | 17 Comments

This is a day for incredibly lousy economic news. The US House failed to do its part to pass a debt ceiling increase, thus starting the serious phase of negotiations (given that finance bills must start in the House). But even worse are the GDP figures for this year, showing a terribly anemic 1.3% annualized growth in GDP for the last quarter and an incredible downward revision to the first quarter of just 0.4%. It would take unbelievable optimism to find something good in the news today.

Actually, the is something good. Initial unemployment claims have fallen to a seasonally adjusted 398k, continuing a rapid drop over the last month. What on earth can we make of that? Maybe a lot.

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Beyond Words

Posted on 27 July 2011 by Erik Hare | 14 Comments

Arrrgh! Errumph!

I’ve been trying to find words to express my frustration with Congress, but they don’t come easily. I’m not even wasting otherwise useful swear words on them. It’s mostly a series of grunts and roars that don’t make any sense at all, sort of like Congress itself.

Grrrrrr!

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Moving the Economy Forward

Posted on 25 July 2011 by Erik Hare | 29 Comments

When the economy isn’t showing any signs of movement, you might think that economists don’t have a lot to talk about. However, that point of view neglects one very important part of the ol’ dismal science –economists always have to make work for themselves in order to remain employed. That gets us to some arcane debates over things most people I know think are pretty obvious.

Paul Krugman often gives us a good popular entry point into these debates, and his last column is no different. Longtime readers will note that I have never been a fan of Krugman (putting it kindly), but I want to note that in this article he is actively promoting the handle “Depression” for our economic state. But I want to take issue with him over three main topics: The length of this Depression, the nature of Keynsianism, and the simple fact that my term “Managed Depression” is way cooler than his “Lesser Depression”.

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Adult Supervision

Posted on 22 July 2011 by Erik Hare | 15 Comments

Growing up isn’t easy. Actually, it’s very easy because every day you get a bit older whether you like it or not – it’s just not a lot of fun.

Congress, always the antonym of progress, received yesterday a stern lecture from a representative of Standard & Poors (aka Poor Standards) on just what happens when your credit rating is slashed and how it can be avoided. It appears that they successfully obtained adult supervision before doing something very stupid, which is to say doing nothing against the 2 August default deadline.

On the same day that the Greek debt crisis appears to have been ended this might actually be a cause for celebration. Of course, something like a big party is how everyone got into these messes in the first place, so it’ll be a quiet affair.

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