The U.S. gained 431,000 jobs in May, according to this morning’s release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That sounds great—until you take into account that 411,000 of those positions were for temporary Census workers. The private sector added only 41,000 jobs, which is a drop in the bucket.
The employment rate edged down to …
Oops. I forgot to link to this Q&A with University of Chicago economist Raghuram Rajan on Time.com when it went up. Here is it now.
Rajan made a big splash at Jackson Hole back in 2005 when he stood up in front of a room full of prominent economic policy makers and gave a speech about all the risk that was building up in the financial …
Yesterday I went to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission‘s hearing on ratings companies.* My story is supposed to go up on Time.com later today. (UPDATE: here it is now.) In the meantime, I’d like to share the most absurd moment from yesterday’s hearing.
One line of questioning revolved around how managers are compensated at Moody’s. …
In April, the personal savings rate—the percentage of disposable income that people don’t spend—went up to 3.6%. That’s higher than it was in March (3.1%), but still far lower than many economist types were predicting this time last year. Back in early 2009, there was talk that thanks to the Great Recession Americans were embarking …
Brace yourself for the backlash. University of Colorado sociologist Tim Wadsworth has a study out in Social Science Quarterly suggesting that more immigration leads to less crime. During the 1990s, the incidence of serious crime dropped in many places in the U.S.—but fastest in the cities with the largest increase in immigrants. That …
Is it wrong to be relieved that some white-collar crime is still old-fashioned and easy to understand?
Today authorities arrested two people charged with trying to sell information about upcoming Disney earnings to hedge funds. According to the SEC complaint, Bonnie Jean Hoxie, an assistant to a Disney executive (who Dow Jones …
If you’re anything like me, you’ve been watching the sovereign and bank bailouts in Europe and asking, “Okay, but what’s in it for me?”
Well, here is your answer: cheaper gas.
The Senate passed its financial reform bill. Huzzah! What did the Senate wind up with after three weeks of such intense lobbying and debate? First, I’ll run through the big, headline-grabbing changes. Then the real fun begins: the changes that are coming which you probably haven’t been hearing as much about. Just remember that Congress …
The other day I spoke with University of Chicago economist Raghuram Rajan. Rajan made a big splash at Jackson Hole back in 2005 when he stood up in front of a room full of prominent economic policy makers and gave a speech about all the risk that was building up in the financial system. He said we could be headed for serious problems. …
Last week Shaun Donovan, who runs the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said that it might make sense to modify the mortgage interest tax deduction. Sacrilege! Giving people a tax break for buying a house is one of the great middle class subsidies. Donovan knew he was on shaky ground when he said it, and did plenty to hedge. …
[Editor’s note: I wrote a story for Time.com, which is now being funneled here, to the Curious Capitalist. I might have assumed a bit more knowledge had I known it was going to wind up with you, dear readers.]
Credit ratings companies played a key role in the financial crisis by blessing the packages of sliced-and-diced mortgages that …
This USA Today article, which talks about the average personal tax rate being at a 60-year low, is getting a lot of attention. The conclusion is pretty fascinating:
Americans paid their lowest level of taxes last year since Harry Truman’s presidency, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data found. Federal, state and local taxes — including
…