In the State-of-the-Union, President Obama said, “Our deficits–cut by more than half.” Looking at the federal deficit as a percent of GDP, we can say that the deficit is much lower than 4 years ago. BUT… The deficit was an unusually…
Because it would be wonderful if we all knew Adam Smith, I was delighted that President Obama quoted him in a recent speech. However, Smith’s relevance to a minimum wage boost is a bit of a leap. Discussing economic mobility, the…
Visiting an Amazon distribution center in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Tuesday, President Obama was told by independent booksellers, “We are disheartened to see Amazon touted as a ‘jobs creator,’…when..the exact opposite is true.” Small retailers opposing large firms is nothing new.…
Just eliminate deductions and exclusions to cure our budget problems. Yes? Not so easy. Here is a list of the 20 largest “Tax Expenditures” for 2012 from Credit Suisse. As you can see, each provision connects to an incentive that…
President Obama has been having dinner with historians. Described by the NY Times as a “largely left tilting group,” the names I consistently discovered that attended the dinners were: Doris Kearns Goodwin, Michael Beschloss, Robert Caro, Robert Dallek, Douglas Brinkley, H.…
Before tomorrow’s election, let’s take a look at the voting age gap. Absent since 1972, the young and the old again are voting differently. The Silent Generation: The oldest slice of the population, the Silent Generation was born between 1928…
In China, a Big Mac costs close to the equivalent of $2.44. That same burger in the US is $4.20. The basic idea is PPP, purchasing power parity. The dollar can buy more when the yuan is undervalued. And President…
For the first quarter of 2009, GDP declined at a 5.5% rate and, at 7.6% during January, unemployment was rising. With the economy in a tailspin, policy makers wanted to act quickly. Primarily split along party lines, the Congress responded with…
All the talk about Big Bird and federal funding is really about 2 much bigger issues. 1. Discretionary Spending With proposed spending in the Obama 2013 budget at 3.7 trillion dollars, a tiny proportion–between 1 and 2 percent, goes to the…
econlife®
Connecting economics with everyday life.
Located at the intersection of current events, history, and economics, econlife® slices away all of the layers that make economics boring and complex. We like economics and we would like for you to like it too.
