One of the knottiest issues surrounding the U.S. national debt is that of growing foreign ownership of our Treasury bonds. Is there any danger in the fact we owe about a third of our national debt to entities outside our…
Debts differ from deficits
An old song urges us to “look for the silver lining” in any cloud. Our nation’s return to large budget deficits under the Bush administration makes things easier for teachers like me. As I teach macroeconomics this fall, I know…
Drug benefit is close to “bilateral monopoly”
The as-yet unfinished legislation establishing a prescription drug benefit as part of Medicare will set an interesting milestone. When enacted, the United States will face a situation of effective “bilateral monopoly” in the production and sale of many pharmaceuticals. It…
A lesson in “rent seeking”
Recent stories in this newspaper describing the financial ties involving Gov. Tim Pawlenty, State Auditor Pat Awada and Metropolitan Airport Commissioner Victoria Grunseth with a telecom firm accused of fraudulent practices in several states illustrate the subtleties of a phenomenon…