How economists invented austerity .[embedded content] To many conservative and neoliberal politicians and economists,​ there seems to be a spectre haunting the United States and Europe today — Keynesian ideas on governments pursuing policies raising effective demand and supporting employment. Some of the favourite arguments used among these Keynesophobics to fight it are the ‘doctrine of sound finance’ and the need for austerity. Is this witless crusade...

Initial claims remain positive  – by New Deal democrat Initial jobless claims declined this week -8,000 to 212,000. The four week average rose 5,750 to 218,250. With the typical one-week lag, continuing claims rose 30,000 to 1.865 million: On the more important (for forecasting purposes) YoY basis, initial claims are down -1.9%. The four week average is up 5.4%. Continuing claims are up 10.3%: Initial claims indicate continued...

Douglas Dowell joins the crew this week to talk about all thing real estate, and more. This is a topic that affects all walks of life no matter what your income class is. Douglas is the founder of Eagles Flight Equity Group. Website: https://efequitygrp.com/

from Richard Norgaard and RWER issue 106 I object to the question on which this volume focuses. It assumes that biophysical limits are real and knowable rather than a human construct associated with a particular understanding of how natural systems might behave. Limits have been an extremely useful construct for critiquing the even simpler construct that assumes science and technology can provide unlimited economic growth. Nature, however, has zillions of limits that are crossed all of...

Dale Coberly lead-in to his discussion on Social Security is something which has been debated back and forth by politicians, those who wish to cut it, those who seek to end it, and those who have done all of the above such as Andrew Biggs. Social Security for the today’s elderly and those who will retire in the future can be fixed rather inexpensively. Dale, Bruce, and Arne etc. have argued the points extensively on Angry Bear. Dale has given me...

Andrew Biggs knows small incremental increases in SS withholding would resolve any shortfall. The plan presented by Dale Coberly is such and it was agreed up by the Social Security administration as workable. This has been a long running back and forth with Andrew Biggs whose only plan is cuts in Social Security and its demise. Dale and Bruce held a back and forth with Andrew Biggs here: Notes on Social Security Reform: Responding to Angry Bear:...

I get quite a few commentaries on healthcare and also announcements. I thought I would follow Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs site for a while. I can vouch for the lower cost drugs I use are close to what Mark’s business is citing. If anyone see one of these drugs is of a lesser cost, please check Mark Cuban’s “Cost Plus Drugs” site for accuracy. The latest . . . Homepage of Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs Mark announces Cost Plus Drugs has added...

Over the last few years, the Australian and UK Labor/Labour[1] parties, have followed strikingly parallel paths. A better-than expected result with a relatively progressive platform (Oz 2016, UK 2017) A demoralizing defeat in 2019, followed by the election of a new more conservative leader (Albanese, Starmer) Wholesale abandonment of the program Failure of the rightwing government to handle Covid and other problmes Because we have elections every three years, Australia is...

March and April tax drain will follow.

The long leading forecast for 2024 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat A couple of times a year I update my long leading forecast. With the latest GDP and Senior Loan Officer Survey data, there is enough to take a look at what the next 12 months probably have in store. This article is up at Seeking Alpha.  Below, a brief Introduction of what New Deal democrat is featuring. As usual, a very well detailed article by NDd. The Long...