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http://www.scsuscholars.com/ - Thoughts on the passing scene from an economist at St. Cloud State University .
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Property taxes would increase an average of 3.5 percent across Minnesota next year if local governments adopt their proposed levies, the state Revenue Department announced Thursday. That would be less than the 5.6 percent increase in average property taxes this year and the average 6.9 percent ...
Other
I was listening to an interview of Bruce Bartlett the other day. You might remember him if you're about my age and a fan of supply-side economics as being one of its leading lights. He's recently fallen on hard times in Republican circles for saying a tax cut isn't the cure for the common cold ...
Government
The individual insurance mandate, then, is a solution to a problem the bill itself would create . The authors invoke the Commerce Clause to protect interstate commerce from a threat they themselves pose to it. They could avert the threat simply by not imposing guaranteed-issue on insurers. From ...
Other
I was watching the Commanding Heights third episode in class this afternoon. The first half of the episode deals with the financial crises of the 1990s, and after reading Arnold Kling and Simon Johnson this morning I thought to myself: boy the numbers got bigger! $50 billion to Mexico in 1994 (a ...
Government
Simon Johnson
Korea
TARP
From December 2008 to March 2009 the number of job losses from closing and contracting establishments remained essentially unchanged at 8.5 million. The number of job gains from opening and expanding private sector establishments fell from 6.7 million to 5.7 million, the lowest level since the ...
Other
Steve Jobs
I've been reading the CBO/JCT report on the Reid health care plan. See Keith Hennessey for your first cut on new taxes ; I'm going to confine this post to things I found interesting that he does not mention. Ed Morrissey links to a second CBO letter today that combines the Reid proposal with ...
Government
I have to agree with Benjamin: " what a sad devolution ". I knew posting this would lead to some trolling and counter-trolling, but the volume and vitriol are amazing. I'd invite those commenters to re-read this symposium from the Center for the American Experiment. A taste: One explanation was ...
Other
Let Freedom Ring is five . Here's a comparison. When the internet first started its biggest use to me was for fantasy baseball. I've played with dozens of other enthusiasts since 1992, and a few of them have stuck as friends afterwards. I can count those on one hand. I stopped playing for one ...
Other
This makes me sad: the American Council of Trustees and Alumni has created a website asking "What will they learn ?" as a counterweight to all those criteria used by popular lists by U.S. News and Kiplinger's. (See Ashley Thorne's review.) Their seven required core courses are excellent, ...
Other
University of Cambridge
Every time some report comes out about it, the White House gets all wee-wee'd up. No different this time : The federal government made $98 billion in improper payments in fiscal 2009, and President Obama will issue an executive order in coming days to combat the problem, his budget director ...
Government
Barack Obama
White House
While I was reading Eric's post , I came upon a title on that same site " Fear and Loathing in White Cloud ." 'White Cloud' is a smear that people put on my fair city, and has been one I've heard pretty much since I moved here in 1984. At that time I was probably in the darkest 10% of the ...
Government
Social Democrats
Eric Austin (sometimes known as Political Muse of Liberal in the Land of Conservatives ) chatted via Twitter with me one night about tenure. Sometimes our chats are public, and sometimes not. We had arrived at an understanding about it. Last night he tweets that he has written a piece in part ...
Other
The "Blue Dog" Democrats, 44 'fiscally conservative' congresspersons, did not acquit themselves well in this year, says the Heritage Foundation, via Stephen Moore : On three votes that would massively expand the size of government -- the stimulus plan, cap and trade, and health care reform -- ...
Government
Social Democrats
Courtesy of Keith Hennessey . Memo from Chief Actuary of Medicare and Medicaid Rick Foster here . Hennessey notes that the 18 million who are "uninsured and paying the penalty tax" are "clearly worse off than they would be under current law" because they end up paying the lesser of 2.5% of ...
Other
Assuming no major changes in federal government tax and spending policies, the federal deficit and debt picture looks bleak. The picture is similar to that of the CBO (2009b) and Auerbach and Gale (2009), although in the present case all the macroeconomic endogeneity has been accounted for. ...
Other
Gross Domestic Product
I'm sorry I was traveling this morning and had missed the second half of the game last night. Had I been home, I would have seen Bill Belichick's call on fourth and two, which Gary has already emailed me made him an idiot, and which Ed has posted was an act of hubris. Vic Carucci calls it a ...
Stocks
Toronto-Dominion Bank
Both of a personal nature: I'm off radio this weekend to take a long-planned trip with my brother. His birthday is Sunday and he's a big Steelers fan, so I'm meeting up with him in Pittsburgh with tickets for Sunday's game versus the Bengals, with first place in the AFC North at stake. Eat your ...
Other
You know, Washington isn't the only place where checking the index is commonplace. As a delightful insider's joke on the inbred Washington political establishment, the [Sarah Palin] book has no index. So they can't find mention of themselves while browsing in the store. Buy it or lump it. ...
Stocks
CSI 300 Index
Sarah Palin
Chad writes by email: I've been meaning to ask you for a while about the way that imports impact GDP. If Americans stop buying as much stuff at Wal-mart, imports go down which means GDP looks better. But few would take that as a positive sign. That question is a principles question. If I import ...
Stocks
Gross Domestic Product
Producers provide less at lower prices: Kenneth Feinberg, the Obama administration’s special master for executive compensation, said he is “very concerned ” about the possibility his pay cuts may drive talent away from companies bailed out by U.S. taxpayers. “I’m very cognizant of the concerns ...