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newyorker.com - 10/21/2008
The Balance Sheet: Online Only: The New Yorker
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One of the peculiarities of the U.S. budget process is that we don’t distinguish between “expenditures” that are actually long-term investments, often with high returns for the economy as a whole, and expenditures that are consumption in the traditional sense of the word. This is very different ...
newyorker.com - 10/28/2008
The Balance Sheet: Online Only: The New Yorker
— newyorker.com — A couple of weeks ago, economist Brad DeLong suggested (at least semi-seriously, I think) that now might... be a good time to “take the Social Security Trust Fund balance out of Treasuries and move it into equities.” As he put it, “Buy low, sell high ... (more) The Balance Sheet: Online Only: The New Yorker

Comments vote down Abnormal Returns found this 10/28/2008found this
newyorker.com - 10/20/2008
The Balance Sheet: Online Only: The New Yorker
— newyorker.com — Lefty Rosenthal—the antihero of Nick Pileggi’s “Casino” and the model for Robert De Niro’s character in the... movie of the same name—died a few days ago, which I learned thanks to a great obituary notice (is that a contradiction in terms?) by Bruce ... (more) The Balance Sheet: Online Only: The New Yorker
Comments vote down Club for Growth found this 10/20/2008found this

Blog Reactions

The Overhead Wire:  Investment Spending

FT Alphaville:  When is a bailout not a bailout?

Abnormal Returns:  Tuesday links: buyback blow-ups

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Blog Reactions

Investment Spending
The Overhead Wire — This is what I talk about when I get annoyed that the FTA won't build tunnels and instead points the cost effectiveness of bus rapid transit. While the cost of the tunnel is more, it sure lasts a long time, and should be amortized as such. ...

When is a bailout not a bailout?
FT Alphaville — ... of the UK’s net borrowing: UK net borrowing But here’s James Surowiecki in the New Yorker on Monday, blogging about bailouts (in this case, the US bailout, but the point applies equally to the UK): I realize that, given the way the U.S. budget is accounted for, it’s accurate to say the $250 billion package is increasing the deficit. But it’d be good to see some acknowledgement that in this case, “spending” that money is going to make the government richer, not poorer. To wit: might a bailout - counted as a deficit in the government finances - actually be more accurately ...

Tuesday links: buyback blow-ups
Abnormal Returns — ... Will the US Treasury make money on the bailout.  (The Balance Sheet, ...

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