It’s been hot and dry, and the U.S. corn crop is burning up. Judging by rising prices, wheat is not doing too well either, and soybeans have only a few weeks of grace before facing the same yield losses as…
Category: Other
Tax on home sales much ado about a few
It apparently is human nature to believe highly dubious assertions as long as they reinforce the way we frame public issues. At least that is the conclusion I have come to after 13 years of hearing from readers concerned about…
Why we should care about LIBOR probe
The growing kerfuffle over Barclays Bank’s false reporting of its input into the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) is big news in Europe and among finance specialists in our own country, but it is not on the radar screen of…
Eras treated 2 brilliant women differently
Two brilliant women who made extraordinary contributions to economics died recently. Elinor Ostrom, a political scientist and the only woman among the 69 Nobel laureate economists named since 1969, died on June 12 at age 78. Nine days later, Anna…
The fundamentals of economics – as seen by a cancer patient
While waiting very briefly for a radiation treatment, a fellow cancer patient next to me in the waiting room commented, “Boy, they really click us through here.” He certainly was right, I was called right at my appointed time and,…
Tax system is a question of imperfect balance
In any tax system there are inherent tradeoffs, winners and losers. Taxpayers are quick to challenge any aspects unfair to them but slow to acknowledge features of the system that give them special favors. Any system must balance administrative workability,…
The eurozone meets Bedford Falls, as financial panic threatens
If you want to understand how the slow-motion train wreck called the euro system will play out, revisit the classic movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Remember the run-on-the bank scene? Now realize that there is no Jimmy Stewart character who…
U.S. needs to steer its youth toward better jobs
At a time of 8.2 percent unemployment and millions out of work in the U.S., how could an estimated 600,000 highly placed technical jobs remain unfilled for lack of qualified applicants? The answer may lie in the changing structure and…
Even in a bad economy, specialized jobs still remain unfilled
Job openings that are hard to fill in the midst of high unemployment reveal fundamental failings. The monthly reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal this apparent ongoing anomaly: The unemployment rate remains high, and total employment down, but…
Arguing over presidential spending misses the point
MarketWatch pundit Rex Nutting kicked up a lot of dust with a recent piece “Obama Spending Binge Never Happened,” which compared the rate of spending growth under the last five presidents. He cited Congressional Budget Office data to show that…