1
Your Money
Financial Opposites in a Life Together
A couple tries to reconcile different money philosophies before opening a joint bank account to handle household expenses.
2
U.S.
U.S. Opens Spigot After Farmers Claim Discrimination
Government payments to address minority farmers’ claims of discrimination by the Agriculture Department have ballooned amid signs of fraud.
3
Business Day
Data Shows Fewer Layoffs, but Hiring Is Still Sluggish
The drop in claims suggests that layoffs have declined, though many companies, still uncertain about the economy, have been reluctant to hire.
4
U.S.
Redistricting Likely to Hamper Democratic Efforts in 2014, Study Finds
A new study found that, because of redistricting, even a dramatic wave election for Democrats would do little to alter the composition of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
5
Booming
Why Do I Have Gout?
If you end up with an attack of gout, prepare yourself for a round of blame the victim.
6
Opinion
The Morose Middle Class
The “true engine of America’s economic growth” sure seems to have stalled.
7
Business Day
Mobile Chargers Prepare for Their Day in the Sun
As solar technology gains in cost and efficiency, manufacturers are increasingly looking to enter the mobile device market with portable chargers.
8
Business Day
Doctors Denounce Cancer Drug Prices of $100,000 a Year
More than 100 influential cancer specialists argued in a journal that some drug prices are unsustainable and perhaps even immoral.
9
Your Money
Estate Planning Remains a Moving Target Under the New Tax Law
Even taxpayers who are exempt from the federal tax on estates under the American Taxpayer Relief Act would be wise to study how the law affects their estate planning.
10
11
Business Day
By 2023, a Changed World in Energy
The year 2023 could find more use of solar power, wind and natural gas, and the United States could be a major oil exporter.
12
World
Mexican Teacher Protests Turn Up Heat on President
Members of the teachers’ union in Guerrero State showed their anger, and in some cases turned violent, over President Enrique Peña Nieto’s plan to overhaul the education system.
13
Opinion
The 'Poisoned' Girls of Afghanistan
Health experts are convinced that a form of mass hysteria explains thousands of incidents of alleged poisonings among school-age girls.
14
World
36 Killed in Fire at Russian Hospital
Most of the victims were patients at a psychiatric hospital outside Moscow who were confined to the building because of their mental ailments.
15
16
Opinion
The Safety of Chemicals
The Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates says there is no cause for alarm.
17
Business Day
The Next Nuclear Reactor May Arrive Hauled by a Truck
Small nuclear reactors, which are considered safer and cheaper than large plants, are winning fans among utilities and government officials.
18
19
Health
Obesity Tied to Prostate Cancer Risk
A new study has found that obesity may increase the risk for future prostate cancer.
20
Health
Ask Well: Do We Need to Stretch?
If stretching before exercise is of questionable benefit, is there any time that stretching is beneficial? The Phys Ed columnist Gretchen Reynolds responds to readers’ questions.
1
U.S.
U.S. Opens Spigot After Farmers Claim Discrimination
Government payments to address minority farmers’ claims of discrimination by the Agriculture Department have ballooned amid signs of fraud.
2
Business Day
Data Shows Fewer Layoffs, but Hiring Is Still Sluggish
The drop in claims suggests that layoffs have declined, though many companies, still uncertain about the economy, have been reluctant to hire.
3
U.S.
Redistricting Likely to Hamper Democratic Efforts in 2014, Study Finds
A new study found that, because of redistricting, even a dramatic wave election for Democrats would do little to alter the composition of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
4
Booming
Why Do I Have Gout?
If you end up with an attack of gout, prepare yourself for a round of blame the victim.
5
Opinion
The Morose Middle Class
The “true engine of America’s economic growth” sure seems to have stalled.
6
Opinion
An Earth Scientist Explores the Biggest Climate Threat: Fear
A veteran earth scientist pushes back against dystopian depictions of global warming and the human response.
7
Business Day
Doctors Denounce Cancer Drug Prices of $100,000 a Year
More than 100 influential cancer specialists argued in a journal that some drug prices are unsustainable and perhaps even immoral.
8
Business Day
Mobile Chargers Prepare for Their Day in the Sun
As solar technology gains in cost and efficiency, manufacturers are increasingly looking to enter the mobile device market with portable chargers.
9
10
World
Mexican Teacher Protests Turn Up Heat on President
Members of the teachers’ union in Guerrero State showed their anger, and in some cases turned violent, over President Enrique Peña Nieto’s plan to overhaul the education system.
11
Opinion
The 'Poisoned' Girls of Afghanistan
Health experts are convinced that a form of mass hysteria explains thousands of incidents of alleged poisonings among school-age girls.
12
Business Day
By 2023, a Changed World in Energy
The year 2023 could find more use of solar power, wind and natural gas, and the United States could be a major oil exporter.
13
Your Money
Estate Planning Remains a Moving Target Under the New Tax Law
Even taxpayers who are exempt from the federal tax on estates under the American Taxpayer Relief Act would be wise to study how the law affects their estate planning.
14
15
Business Day
The Next Nuclear Reactor May Arrive Hauled by a Truck
Small nuclear reactors, which are considered safer and cheaper than large plants, are winning fans among utilities and government officials.
16
17
Health
Ask Well: Do We Need to Stretch?
If stretching before exercise is of questionable benefit, is there any time that stretching is beneficial? The Phys Ed columnist Gretchen Reynolds responds to readers’ questions.
18
World
U.S. General Sees Hope for Chinese Help on Korea
Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that talks yielded similar goals of limiting North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
19
Autos
Attack of the Curly Floor Mats: Subaru Issues Recall
Subaru plans to recall 10,000 Foresters over potentially pedal-obstructing floor mats, and Schneider Electric USA, a maker of E.V. chargers, is calling back charging units with potentially defective connectors.
20
Business Day
A Wrinkle in the Workplace
Low morale at banks and other financial institutions in London is leading some employees to behave at work as if they were still at home wearing pajamas, according to a business coach.
1
Business Day
Data Shows Fewer Layoffs, but Hiring Is Still Sluggish
The drop in claims suggests that layoffs have declined, though many companies, still uncertain about the economy, have been reluctant to hire.American Austerity, An Update
There is some tendency among economic
commentators to think that austerity policies in a deeply depressed
economy are mainly a European thing; you even find a fair number of
people imagining that the United States is still engaged in fiscal
stimulus. But the truth is that federal stimulus is years behind us,
while state and local governments have cut back, so the overall story is
one of fiscal contraction that’s smaller than in Europe, but not by
that much.
To see what’s going on, you need to do two things. First, you should include state and local; second, you shouldn’t divide by GDP, because a depressed GDP can cause the spending/GDP ratio to rise even if spending falls. So it’s useful to look at the ratio of overall government expenditure to potential GDP — what the economy would be producing if it were at full employment; CBO provides standard estimates of this number. And here’s what we see:
Spending is down to what it was before the recession, and also
significantly lower than it was under Reagan. Bear in mind that in the
years since the recession began we’ve seen a significant number of
boomers reach retirement age, which would ordinarily have led to rising
spending, not to mention the effects of rising health care costs. Bear
in mind also that the private sector is still deleveraging, which means
that government should be spending more to help sustain the economy. So
this is actually a picture of very bad policy."
"April 27, 2013, 2:00 pm 69 Comments
To see what’s going on, you need to do two things. First, you should include state and local; second, you shouldn’t divide by GDP, because a depressed GDP can cause the spending/GDP ratio to rise even if spending falls. So it’s useful to look at the ratio of overall government expenditure to potential GDP — what the economy would be producing if it were at full employment; CBO provides standard estimates of this number. And here’s what we see:
"April 27, 2013, 2:00 pm 69 Comments
The Great Degrader
I’ve been focused on economic policy
lately, so I sort of missed the big push to rehabilitate Bush’s image;
also, as a premature anti-Bushist who pointed out how terrible a
president he was back when everyone else was praising him as a Great
Leader, I’m kind of worn out on the subject.
But it does need to be said: he was a terrible president, arguably the worst ever, and not just for the reasons many others are pointing out.
From what I’ve read, most of the pushback against revisionism focuses on just how bad Bush’s policies were, from the disaster in Iraq to the way he destroyed FEMA, from the way he squandered a budget surplus to the way he drove up Medicare’s costs. And all of that is fair.
But I think there was something even bigger, in some ways, than his policy failures: Bush brought an unprecedented level of systematic dishonesty to American political life, and we may never recover.
Think about his two main “achievements”, if you want to call them that: the tax cuts and the Iraq war, both of which continue to cast long shadows over our nation’s destiny. The key thing to remember is that both were sold with lies.
I suppose one could make an argument for the kind of tax cuts Bush rammed through — tax cuts that strongly favored the wealthy and significantly increased inequality. But we shouldn’t forget that Bush never admitted that his tax cuts did, in fact, favor the wealthy. Instead, his administration canceled the practice of making assessments of the distributional effects of tax changes, and in their selling of the cuts offered what amounted to an expert class in how to lie with statistics. Basically, every time the Bushies came out with a report, you knew that it was going to involve some kind of fraud, and the only question was which kind and where.
And no, this wasn’t standard practice before. Politics ain’t beanbag and all that, but the president as con man was a new character in American life.
Even more important, Bush lied us into war. Let’s repeat that: he lied us into war. I know, the apologists will say that “everyone” believed Saddam had WMD, but the truth is that even the category “WMD” was a con game, lumping together chemical weapons with nukes in an illegitimate way. And any appearance of an intelligence consensus before the invasion was manufactured: dissenting voices were suppressed, as anyone who was reading Knight-Ridder (now McClatchy) knew at the time.
Why did the Bush administration want war? There probably wasn’t a single reason, but can we really doubt at this point that it was in part about wagging the dog? And right there you have something that should block Bush from redemption of any kind, ever: he misled us into a war that probably killed hundreds of thousands of people, and he did it in part for political reasons.
There was a time when Americans expected their leaders to be more or less truthful. Nobody expected them to be saints, but we thought we could trust them not to lie about fundamental matters. That time is now behind us — and it was Bush who did it."
But it does need to be said: he was a terrible president, arguably the worst ever, and not just for the reasons many others are pointing out.
From what I’ve read, most of the pushback against revisionism focuses on just how bad Bush’s policies were, from the disaster in Iraq to the way he destroyed FEMA, from the way he squandered a budget surplus to the way he drove up Medicare’s costs. And all of that is fair.
But I think there was something even bigger, in some ways, than his policy failures: Bush brought an unprecedented level of systematic dishonesty to American political life, and we may never recover.
Think about his two main “achievements”, if you want to call them that: the tax cuts and the Iraq war, both of which continue to cast long shadows over our nation’s destiny. The key thing to remember is that both were sold with lies.
I suppose one could make an argument for the kind of tax cuts Bush rammed through — tax cuts that strongly favored the wealthy and significantly increased inequality. But we shouldn’t forget that Bush never admitted that his tax cuts did, in fact, favor the wealthy. Instead, his administration canceled the practice of making assessments of the distributional effects of tax changes, and in their selling of the cuts offered what amounted to an expert class in how to lie with statistics. Basically, every time the Bushies came out with a report, you knew that it was going to involve some kind of fraud, and the only question was which kind and where.
And no, this wasn’t standard practice before. Politics ain’t beanbag and all that, but the president as con man was a new character in American life.
Even more important, Bush lied us into war. Let’s repeat that: he lied us into war. I know, the apologists will say that “everyone” believed Saddam had WMD, but the truth is that even the category “WMD” was a con game, lumping together chemical weapons with nukes in an illegitimate way. And any appearance of an intelligence consensus before the invasion was manufactured: dissenting voices were suppressed, as anyone who was reading Knight-Ridder (now McClatchy) knew at the time.
Why did the Bush administration want war? There probably wasn’t a single reason, but can we really doubt at this point that it was in part about wagging the dog? And right there you have something that should block Bush from redemption of any kind, ever: he misled us into a war that probably killed hundreds of thousands of people, and he did it in part for political reasons.
There was a time when Americans expected their leaders to be more or less truthful. Nobody expected them to be saints, but we thought we could trust them not to lie about fundamental matters. That time is now behind us — and it was Bush who did it."
The Ignoramus Strategy
A while back Noah Smith
described one common strategy for arguing against Keynesian economics,
and yours truly in particular: “Relentlessly pretend to be an ignorant
simpleton.” Of course, as always, this strategy is most effective if you
aren’t pretending, and really are an ignorant simpleton.
Which brings me to this rant by Ken Langone, in which he answers my arguments by saying,
Anyway, this wounds my vanity. I like to imagine that I’m pretty good at making economic arguments as simple as possible, and stating them in plain English. True, I never get to the simplicity of “People are having to tighten their belts, so the government should tighten its belt too.” But that’s because the world isn’t that simple, and some lines sound good but are just wrong.
Now, I don’t know if Langone is really as dumb as he sounds; my guess is, probably not — the attempt to sound like a regular guy, while actually sounding like an actor in a 1950s B-movie, is a giveaway. Still, maybe this is an occasion to restate what is really going on in the economy, and why I advocate the things I do.
So, in order:
1. The economy isn’t like an individual family that earns a certain amount and spends some other amount, with no relationship between the two. My spending is your income and your spending is my income. If we both slash spending, both of our incomes fall.
2. We are now in a situation in which many people have cut spending, either because they chose to or because their creditors forced them to, while relatively few people are willing to spend more. The result is depressed incomes and a depressed economy, with millions of willing workers unable to find jobs.
3. Things aren’t always this way, but when they are, the government is not in competition with the private sector. Government purchases don’t use resources that would otherwise be producing private goods, they put unemployed resources to work. Government borrowing doesn’t crowd out private borrowing, it puts idle funds to work. As a result, now is a time when the government should be spending more, not less. If we ignore this insight and cut government spending instead, the economy will shrink and unemployment will rise. In fact, even private spending will shrink, because of falling incomes.
4. This view of our problems has made correct predictions over the past four years, while alternative views have gotten it all wrong. Budget deficits haven’t led to soaring interest rates (and the Fed’s “money-printing” hasn’t led to inflation); austerity policies have greatly deepened economic slumps almost everywhere they have been tried.
5. Yes, the government must pay its bills in the long run. But spending cuts and/or tax increases should wait until the economy is no longer depressed, and the private sector is willing to spend enough to produce full employment.
Is this impossibly complicated? I don’t think so. Now, I suppose that someone like Langone will just respond that it’s all gibberish he can’t understand. But unless he really is stupid, which as I said I doubt, that’s only because he doesn’t want to understand."
Which brings me to this rant by Ken Langone, in which he answers my arguments by saying,
Let’s stop all this crap with all of these high fallutin’ thoughts and ideas. You know what happens to people their eyes glaze over, I don’t know what the hell he’s saying.This may, by the way, be the first time I’ve ever heard anyone say “high fallutin” outside of an old Western.
Anyway, this wounds my vanity. I like to imagine that I’m pretty good at making economic arguments as simple as possible, and stating them in plain English. True, I never get to the simplicity of “People are having to tighten their belts, so the government should tighten its belt too.” But that’s because the world isn’t that simple, and some lines sound good but are just wrong.
Now, I don’t know if Langone is really as dumb as he sounds; my guess is, probably not — the attempt to sound like a regular guy, while actually sounding like an actor in a 1950s B-movie, is a giveaway. Still, maybe this is an occasion to restate what is really going on in the economy, and why I advocate the things I do.
So, in order:
1. The economy isn’t like an individual family that earns a certain amount and spends some other amount, with no relationship between the two. My spending is your income and your spending is my income. If we both slash spending, both of our incomes fall.
2. We are now in a situation in which many people have cut spending, either because they chose to or because their creditors forced them to, while relatively few people are willing to spend more. The result is depressed incomes and a depressed economy, with millions of willing workers unable to find jobs.
3. Things aren’t always this way, but when they are, the government is not in competition with the private sector. Government purchases don’t use resources that would otherwise be producing private goods, they put unemployed resources to work. Government borrowing doesn’t crowd out private borrowing, it puts idle funds to work. As a result, now is a time when the government should be spending more, not less. If we ignore this insight and cut government spending instead, the economy will shrink and unemployment will rise. In fact, even private spending will shrink, because of falling incomes.
4. This view of our problems has made correct predictions over the past four years, while alternative views have gotten it all wrong. Budget deficits haven’t led to soaring interest rates (and the Fed’s “money-printing” hasn’t led to inflation); austerity policies have greatly deepened economic slumps almost everywhere they have been tried.
5. Yes, the government must pay its bills in the long run. But spending cuts and/or tax increases should wait until the economy is no longer depressed, and the private sector is willing to spend enough to produce full employment.
Is this impossibly complicated? I don’t think so. Now, I suppose that someone like Langone will just respond that it’s all gibberish he can’t understand. But unless he really is stupid, which as I said I doubt, that’s only because he doesn’t want to understand."
2
N.Y. / Region
Feminist Editor Dies in Motorcycle Accident
Mary Thom, 68, a renowned intellectual in the women’s movement who worked at Ms. magazine, was killed on Friday in Yonkers.
3
Booming
Why Do I Have Gout?
If you end up with an attack of gout, prepare yourself for a round of blame the victim.
4
U.S.
S.E.C. Is Asked to Require Disclosure of Donations
The Securities and Exchange Commission may soon make publicly traded corporations reveal their political contributions, and business groups are preparing a counterattack.
5
Opinion
An Earth Scientist Explores the Biggest Climate Threat: Fear
A veteran earth scientist pushes back against dystopian depictions of global warming and the human response.
6
Business Day
Mobile Chargers Prepare for Their Day in the Sun
As solar technology gains in cost and efficiency, manufacturers are increasingly looking to enter the mobile device market with portable chargers.
7
Business Day
Doctors Denounce Cancer Drug Prices of $100,000 a Year
More than 100 influential cancer specialists argued in a journal that some drug prices are unsustainable and perhaps even immoral.
8
9
Business Day
By 2023, a Changed World in Energy
The year 2023 could find more use of solar power, wind and natural gas, and the United States could be a major oil exporter.
10
Opinion
The 'Poisoned' Girls of Afghanistan
Health experts are convinced that a form of mass hysteria explains thousands of incidents of alleged poisonings among school-age girls.
11
Your Money
Estate Planning Remains a Moving Target Under the New Tax Law
Even taxpayers who are exempt from the federal tax on estates under the American Taxpayer Relief Act would be wise to study how the law affects their estate planning.
12
13
Business Day
The Next Nuclear Reactor May Arrive Hauled by a Truck
Small nuclear reactors, which are considered safer and cheaper than large plants, are winning fans among utilities and government officials.
14
15
Health
Ask Well: Do We Need to Stretch?
If stretching before exercise is of questionable benefit, is there any time that stretching is beneficial? The Phys Ed columnist Gretchen Reynolds responds to readers’ questions.
16
World
U.S. General Sees Hope for Chinese Help on Korea
Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that talks yielded similar goals of limiting North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
17
Autos
Attack of the Curly Floor Mats: Subaru Issues Recall
Subaru plans to recall 10,000 Foresters over potentially pedal-obstructing floor mats, and Schneider Electric USA, a maker of E.V. chargers, is calling back charging units with potentially defective connectors.
18
Business Day
A Wrinkle in the Workplace
Low morale at banks and other financial institutions in London is leading some employees to behave at work as if they were still at home wearing pajamas, according to a business coach.
19
World
Search for Cuts Puts Portugal’s Schools on Chopping Block
A court ruling and continuing budgetary difficulties have left Portugal’s government to reduce spending where it can — including in its education system, already one of the weakest in Europe.
20
No comments:
Post a Comment