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The Minnesota state budget forecast came out with more bad news – a deficit of $1.1B for the biennium (2 year) cycle of 2014-2015. How can we have these deficits year after year?
The answer is a short and simple one: it’s actually worse than what they are telling us. But a new DFL controlled legislature will be able to work with Governor Dayton to take care of it, once and for all, without an awful lot of pain. The longer answer is that we can expect even more fundamental reform in the works.
This particular post is totally uncharacteristic of Barataria and all it stands for. It’s deeply personal. I apologize in advance for those of you who expect something else.
The most common criticism I’ve received over the years is that I rarely talk about myself. Well, if I told you all about my life I doubt you’d believe it. It’s been a long, strange trip and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Let this stand on its own and you can judge for yourself. This is a blog, after all. Time for a major self indulgent posting.
What’s the worst that can happen? As the deadline approaches for the Fiscal Cliff later this month, a lot of people are asking this question. It’s becoming common on both the left and the right to question whether or not we should just “go over” the edge and see what happens.
No matter where it comes from, this is a dumb idea. Let’s examine why.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
There has to be more to it, doesn’t there? Doesn’t this “Santa” guy have some ulterior motive? Continue reading
Consumer confidence, as measured by a survey plugged into a magic formula, is at the highest level in nearly five years. Housing prices have risen for the sixth straight month. All is attributed to improvements in employment, something rarely noted in the media over the summer but felt by people all across the US.
The long answer is that everyone who watches this never believed that employment was improving much. Employment growth leading the overall economy hasn’t been the way recessions have run since the end of WWII. That alone tells us that this time is different. What makes it different is important because it highlights what Barataria readers have been clued into since 2007 and urgently since 2008 – that this is at the very least a different kind of economic event.
Call it what you will, but there can be little doubt that different times call for different measures.
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 