The Broader Market

February 17th, 2012

My colleague Michael Linden discusses whether the stimulus worked. (Spoiler alert: it did.)

January 20th, 2012

Council of Economic Advisor’s Chairman Alan Krueger gives a lengthy presentation on income inequality in the US.

Enjoy.

August 31st, 2011

Republicans Loved Stimulus When Bush Was in the White House

by Michael Linden, John Griffith, and Jordan Eizenga

Stimulus is now a dirty word, especially among Republicans in Congress. But it wasn’t always so. In January 2008 when the economic picture was far less dire and the unemployment rate was only 4.8 percent, 165 Republicans in the House of Representatives and 33 Republican senators voted to pass a stimulus package with an estimated cost of $152 billion. That package provided tax cuts of up to $600 for individuals or $1,200 for married couples, plus an additional $300 per child. The bill also contained a number of temporary tax breaks for businesses. And just in case you thought President George W. Bush’s stimulus bill was simply a bunch of tax cuts, it also included $40 billion in direct spending. The legislation was even called the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008.

For more of the article, see here.

August 12th, 2011

Nouriel Roubini, NYU economist and founder of Roubini Global Economics, talks about the general state of the global financial system, the US economy, and economic theory.

“Marx said it right that at some point, capitalism can self-destroy itself” and “that markets are not working,” says Roubini, who is by no means an orthodox Marxist.

This is a very interesting interview for those wanting an overview of the central economic issues facing today’s policymakers.

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 14th, 2011

Let’s Get the Record Straight

by Jordan Eizenga

The White House-Congress debt limit negotiations are getting down to the wire and the consequences of failing to reach an agreement in time to raise the debt limit by August 2nd are dire. Given these facts, you might ask, “Why can’t the White House and Republican leaders in Congress get their act together and come to an agreement?” Well, let me set the record straight and illustrate where the problem really lies.

The Broader Market

Posts tagged “fiscal policy”

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

Let’s Get the Record Straight

@BroaderMarket

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