A misguided response to the fiscal cliff could risk a recession while doing little to solve long-term financial problems
Economics
Do We Have Another Financial Bubble On Our Hands? Or Three?
Multiple debt markets are facing big trouble because of excessive borrowing and the Fed’s easy-money policies.
Why Yesterday’s Fed Announcement Is a Big Deal
The Federal Reserve is a famously inscrutable institution. Given their ability to move markets, Fed officials have long been in the habit of speaking in careful, jargon-laced language that is often constructed with the express …
Fixing Inflation Adjustments Is the Smart Way to Shrink the Deficit
Limiting future increases in government spending will be less painful than making sudden deep cuts in current programs.
The Best Way to Cut Government Spending: Get Really Tough on Fraud
Fraud and improper payments for government programs amount to $125 billion a year. Reducing those losses substantially would avoid a lot of painful cuts.
The Other Side of Warren Buffett’s Common Sense Tax Argument
Over the years, Warren Buffett has gotten a lot of miles out of his folksy charm and ability to distill elaborate financial concepts into plain English. And recently, proponents of higher tax rates for the wealthy have gotten a …
Why the Fiscal Cliff is the Wrong Thing to Worry About
The resolution of the Fiscal Cliff will probably no solve much, while little attention is paid to the real economic problems.
The Many Ways Your Taxes Could Go Up in 2013 (Even If You’re Not Rich)
The No. 1 issue on Capitol Hill these days is the so-called “fiscal cliff,” or the set of tax increases and spending cuts that will go into effect Jan. 1, 2013. A Congressional Budget Office Report issued this month projected …
The Pessimist’s Guide to Surviving the Fiscal Cliff
Whatever the budget deal, it probably won’t be able to prevent sluggish growth and the risk of rising inflation.
Explainer: Did That $6 Billion in Campaign Spending At Least Help the Economy?
After each election, the media tends to brood over a predictable set of issues, like the small mindedness of campaign policy proposals to the nastiness of negative advertising. Another bugaboo of the pious punditry is the …
Whoever He Is, the President Elect Will Quickly Face an Economic Crisis
The U.S. is confronting a dizzying array of financial issues that will have to be dealt with early next year.
What Should Be Done About Growing Inequality?
Many factors contribute to increasing inequality. Public policy should focus on eliminating only the bad ones
