-
CBO Updates Bail-Out Cost
The Congressional Budget Office has released its latest estimate of the costs of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), a.k.a. "the bailout(s)." The results will probably drive some folks insane with rage since they don't exactly fit the Approved Narrative (tm). But here's the story in a few numbers ( Read more... ) -
A Few Things to be Thankful For
- Modern Anti-Depressant, Anti-Anxiety and ADHD Medications: allowing millions of us to enjoy the stable, functional emotional lives and attention spans that the rest of you take for granted.
- Science, Technology & Engineering: like magic, but it really works. Without the need to concoct some special definition of "works" or "really."
- The Stimulus ( Read more... )
-
Friends don't let friends read David Brooks
For reasons passing understanding, David Brooks has a reputation for being an interesting, thoughtful conservative. The reputation is entirely undeserved. (Except for the conservative part, naturally ( Read more... ) -
A Modest Proposal
A modest -- but serious! -- proposal, that might actually appeal across partisan lines:- We suspend the Social Security payroll tax for three years;
- We issue inflation-adjusted 10-year bonds (TIPS) in the amount of the foregone revenue (estimated by the Social Security Trustees as about $2.2 trillion from 2011 - 2013). The real interest rate on ten- ( Read more... )
-
The Future
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has just released its Fourth Quarter 2010 Survey of Professional Forecasters. Professional forecasters see a pretty grim future, as it turns out. No surprise, I suppose, but I want to focus on the political implications for a minute ( Read more... ) -
Sobering Fact #801
When Theodore Roosevelt was my age, he had been President of the United States for two years. -
Does it matter if God is real?
Yes, more atheist blogging. Because sometimes I just can't help myself. ( Read more... ) -
About those moderates
Another entertaining poll from Pew finds that 56% of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters want the GOP to become more conservative, while 54% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters want the Democrats to become more "moderate ( Read more... ) -
Crisis Policy: Emperor Nero vs. Colonel Tigh
"Let it burn," seems to be gaining popularity as preferred policy in the face of financial crises like that of 2007-8. Let's call this the Emperor Nero option. Essentially, this option rests on the claim that the consequences of allowing the events to run their course are preferable to the actions necessary to halt the crisis. More specifically ( Read more... ) -
Do Theists Claim God Exists?
I don't do a lot of atheism blogging -- frankly, what would be the point? -- but I've been thinking about some related topics lately, and I wanted to set a few things down in writing and let such others who might be interested give them a good chewing over.( Read more... )