The more we hear about the government’s ever-changing $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program, the more it sounds like a trem de alegria leaving the station. Literally “train of happiness,” this is an episodic phenomenon in Brazilian politics where getting…
Category: Other
Crisis would be Minsky’s moment
If Hyman Minsky had not died too soon, he would be the man of the hour. A Harvard-trained economist who taught at the University of California-Berkeley and Washington University in St. Louis, Minsky argued that financial market crises like the…
U.S. hypocrisy shouldn’t tar sound economic policy
Suppose a minister preaches thrift, honesty, sobriety and hard work. Then he is seen knocking down shots with some floozy at a horse-track bar after losing the Sunday collection on the fifth race. His flock may think him a hypocrite.…
Taxes higher or lower? No easy answer
Sometimes you don’t know what to believe. Consider the possible consequences for moderate-income households if all of Barack Obama’s tax proposals are adopted. Some say most such households would pay less income tax. Others argue such households would face substantially…
Clinton, Bush policies fueled foreclosure crisis
Our society owes Peter Wallison some thanks, even if we ignored him. A senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Wallison issued one of the most prescient warnings about our current problems nearly a decade ago. A September 1999, New…
Let’s hope President McCain addresses that FICA inequity
John McCain apparently struck a chord with many people when he identified Barack Obama’s ‘spread the wealth around’ comment as ‘class warfare’ resulting from ‘the politics of envy.’ But what the candidate may not realize is the degree to which…
Bachmann spins myth about CRA
Bad government policies, including too-prolonged expansion of the money supply and haphazard financial-sector regulation, are major components of the economic mess we now face. But their interactions are complex. Unfortunately, a simplistic myth is increasingly voiced — that everything would…
“Columbian exchange” still benefits us
Standing near the historic castle overlooking Vaduz, Lichtenstein, it is clear that one aspect of globalization that began five centuries ago continues. From the valley below comes the unmistakable (to a farm boy, at least) whine of a silage chopper…
“Money economy” obscures underlying values
As we work through the worst economic upset in decades, remember the differences between the “real economy” and the “money economy.” The two are linked but are not the same. The crucial question now is how much dramatic problems in…
Your turn, healthy regional investment banks
The big investment banks are dead. Investment banking has a bright future. This is not contradictory. When Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley fled into the protection of commercial bank charters last month, large U.S. stand-alone investment banks became history. The…