The Broader Market

December 5th, 2011

AUSTERITY!: Britain’s run with predictably bad economic policy

by Jordan Eizenga

In the summer of 2010, I wrote repeatedly (see here and here, for example ) about the negative consequences of implementing austerity measures when there is very weak demand and high unemployment. Cutting spending, under these conditions, means removing demand from the economy when there is already a big hole in the combined demand of households, businesses and the government for goods and services produced domestically.

Until that hole in demand is filled, the economy is not able to provide a job for everyone who wants to return to work. Imposing austerity only makes the hole bigger.

October 4th, 2011

This is a great video that compares Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama’s calls for tax fairness - the so-called Buffett rule. If the latter is a class warrior, then so is the former.

And the Buffett rule is probably not the write name for this basic principle that calls for higher income earners to not pay less than low and middle income families. The right name is probably the Reagan rule.

Enjoy.

September 23rd, 2011

Elizabeth Warren (hopefully the next junior Senator for the state of Massachusetts) speaks about tax and budget policy at a campaign event.

She is bang on about the social contract.

Enjoy.

August 7th, 2011

We're in for a Rough Ride

by Jordan Eizenga

Congress’s 11th-hour decision to raise the debt limit after agreeing to a $2.4-trillion deficit-reduction package may have averted economic calamity, but the United States is not out of the woods yet. The long-term effects of the protracted and fractious debt-limit negotiations, coupled with a deficit-reduction package that does nothing to put people back to work, tells me that we’re in for a rough ride. In particular, there are three things that concern me most going forward:

For more of this article, see here.

July 26th, 2011

Failing to Raise the Debt Limit Would Harm the Poor and People of Color

by Jordan Eizenga

If Congress fails to raise the debt limit before August 2 the United States’s credit rating will almost certainly be downgraded and interest rates will jump. Without the ability to borrow, the federal government will have no choice but to immediately cut the payments it is obligated to make by 40 percent. This will threaten Social Security benefits, active-duty military pay, Medicare and Medicaid payments, and all other federal activities, from law enforcement to education to health care. The American economy will quickly be plunged back into recession if the federal government is unable to meet a significant portion of these obligations.

July 18th, 2011

The Debt Limit Ought to Worry Canadians, Too

by Jordan Eizenga

There is a lot at stake for Canadians in the faltering U.S. debt-limit negotiations.

If you have been following the U.S. debt-limit negotiations, you will undoubtedly have heard U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s repeated warnings that failure to raise the debt limit would have catastrophic consequences for the U.S. economy: The credit rating of the United States would be downgraded, interest rates would rise, the safety and security of the dollar would be questioned, and the American economy would plunge back into a deep recession.

July 15th, 2011

Former Labor Department Secretary Bob Reich on the “Truth About the Economy” in less than two minutes, fifteen seconds. A very good summary of our economic situation.

Enjoy.

July 11th, 2011

Warren Buffett discusses the debt limit negotiations on CNBC. The most notable comment from this segment: Failure to raise the debt limit would be “the most asinine act in our nation’s history.”

July 5th, 2011

Since some Congressional lawmakers seem up in arms about including the elimination of oil and gas subsidies in the debt limit negotiations, I thought I’d post a quick clip by my colleague (a tax expert) Seth Hanlon on that very topic.

Enjoy.

July 5th, 2011

Flat Tax, Fair Tax, and Tax Reform

I speak with Vicki Childs about different tax reform options. The other guests included proponents of the flat tax and the fair tax, both of which (fortunately) are not likely to become law.

Enjoy and don’t mind the beginning story.

The Broader Market

Posts tagged “Budget”

AUSTERITY!: Britain’s run with predictably bad economic policy

There is a lot at stake for Canadians in the faltering U.S. debt-limit negotiations.

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