Tag Archives: Taxes/regulation

In chemistry, and in physics, a positive feedback loop usually yields an explosion. In biology, it is a population explosion. In electronics, it might be an unpleasant screech. In economics, both housing bubbles and inflation are products of a positive feedback loop. In re Global Warming: The melting of permafrost due to Global Warming releases methane a greenhouse gas which increases Global Warming, …, …. The melting of Arctic Ice reduces...

The republicans are indignant as hell that the Inflation Reduction Act, née Climate and Healthcare Bill, would increase funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Since Reagan, republicans had been defunding it for them that brought them; them being the very rich who don’t like paying taxes. After the 2010 cuts, it had gotten to the point that the rich hardly pay any taxes at all. Why bother; the IRS didn’t have the money nor the personnel to...

Europe is facing far more energy issues than what the US has faced. We moan about increase gasoline prices which still have not reached the height of them in 2008 when inflation is taken into consideration. David touches upon considerations to be taken in determining a solution. “Price gouging or shortage. Choose one.” – The one-handed economist, David Zetland I’m a political-economist from California who now lives in Amsterdam. During a...

Kind of a mixed bag on articles this week. Quite a few articles on what I would call general interest, kind of interesting stories. An abused elephant tears his owner into two pieces. An article about a pod of penguins(?) save a swimmer from a shark? It is worth a read just to find out the author meant dolphins (which is in the text). Sad Good Byes Judith Durham obituary | Pop and rock | The Guardian, Garth Cartwright, As you age, you begin to...

Just as some of those first to suffer the consequences of Climate Change were those who had been subsisting on marginal lands; some of the first to suffer the consequences of the most recent round of inflation were those who had been subsisting on marginal incomes. This was a lot of Americans. Before inflation, they were barely making ends meet because too much of their too little income was going towards housing. In a more balanced economy, housing...

Both Dan and I put this assortment of articles from various sites showing up in our In-Box. Rearranged the articles according to subject. Hopefully, you find something of interest. Democracy “How to confront the growing threat to American democracy,” Tom Nichols – Niskanen Center, In September 1787, an onlooker is said to have asked Benjamin Franklin what kind of government he and the other delegates to the Constitutional Convention in...

I subscribe to Prof. Heather Cox’s site. I pick the posts I believe might be interesting to AB readers. This one fits the spirit of the day. August 5, 2022, Letters from an American, Heather Cox Richardson On this day in 1861, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law a new tax law to help fund the United States government during the Civil War. Far more than writing a traditional revenue act to address the catastrophic war that had demonstrated...

“New Auto Emissions Rules Have a Loophole You Can Drive a Light-Duty Truck Through” (treehugger.com), Lloyd Alter, December 2021 ~~~~~~~~ President Biden and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have revised the existing greenhouse gas emissions standards for passenger cars and light-duty trucks. Rolling back in four years the rollbacks the Trump administration implemented to change the standards set in place by the Obama...

I do not remember the first time I ran across Treehugger. It was probably at Slate where I was writing in Moneybox and The Best of The Fray. Slate was featuring Treehugger in a series called “Go on an eight-week carbon diet” as written by Meaghan O’Neil in October 2006. Time does fly, doesn’t it? Not everyone gets satisfaction with Treehugger’s offerings as Jack Schafer at Slate points out. But then, maybe he was agitating? You know, stirring the...

If anyone ever knew, it might have been Wilbur. But Wilbur got caught chasing Fanne in the park late one night. Then, too, he died a long time ago. So, “What would Wilbur do?,” is not an option. Even if it were, Wilbur might not have even ever asked ‘how should it be’; only knew a lot about ‘how it is’. Elizabeth knows a lot. Maybe more. Smart as hell. Cares a lot. Could be a big help. Other than that, it’s slim pickens and tax cuts. Never was nor...