Asymptosis: always approaching

“When cronyism thrives, innovation, prosperity, and freedom suffer because small innovative firms get shoved outside,” she said. “Only by empowering the individual will our economies be rescued.” Funny that she doesn’t mention the opposite alternative — disempowering the cronies (politically and financially). Could that possibly be because she are one? via Slovakia rejects Euro bailout…

I’m reminded of the joke about two ladies meeting at the races at Ascot. “Oh dahling,” says the first, “what a wonderful hat. Where did you get it?” The second, looking down her nose condescendingly and slightly embarrassed, sneers, “Dear, we have our hats.” Do American employers have all the workers they need or want given…

Update: See a follow-up post to this post and the comments, here. Randall Wray bills this image — in wonkish humor that I know many of my Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)-savvy readers will get — as “The Most Subversive Sign Seen at the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Protest.” Love it! Which prompts me to finally publish this post,…

I’m actually not going where you might think based on this post’s title. I’ve been there often enough. Instead: In response to my post of this on Facebook, a friend of mine (yes, a real-world friend) writes: I am one of those people who has been severely affected by the job crisis. I am educated…

I was poking around in data as is my wont, sussing things out, and put the following graph together. It quite caught my eye. The five-year averages make it a lot easier to see the big picture. At first glance this looks like a profound secular shift in the economy. (Tyler Cowen: Wow, that is a…

Pretty much says it all… No related posts.

Compared to, for instance, the Bush years, that hotbed of slashed regulations and rising business investment? Oh, wait. But hey: don’t let facts interfere with your fondest fantasies. Here’s the fairy story: …employment growth is sluggish because firms are turning down … opportunities to make goods and services that are profitable today (current sales are very profitable) because they fear…

Yes, the depths of conservative hypocrisy are bottomless, but this really takes all. From The Nation (ht Brad Delong, emphasis mine): Koch invited Hayek to serve as the institute’s “distinguished senior scholar” … Hayek initially declined Koch’s offer … Hayek explains that he underwent gall bladder surgery in Austria earlier that year, which only heightened…

It’s really not complicated; the Fed is run by creditors: David Levey, a former managing director at Moody’s and another critic of Fed inaction, points out that banks often have more to lose from inflation than from unemployment. Inflation reduces the future value of the money that their debtors – homeowners, car buyers, small businesses and…

Steve Randy Waldman’s tweet, pointing to this:     Incredible Shrinking Workers’ Income | FrumForum. Here’s another look at it, from a couple of years back. Related posts: White Married Christians: The Decline and Fall of the GOP Does the Minimum Wage Increase Productivity? Did the Baby Boom Labor Force Surge Cause The Great Inflation?…

I’ve been spouting for a long time that the Earned Income Tax Credit (our largest means-tested cash transfer program) should be indexed to unemployment, creating an automatic stabilizer in the economy. But Traders Crucible has what I’ve decided is a far better idea: index payroll taxes to unemployment — decreasing them during downturns and bringing…

I don’t get why people make this so complicated. We got a deal. Stock market investors didn’t like the deal. Not surprising: It was a profoundly sh***y deal that ensures somewhere between sh***y growth and a second recession. (I guess stockholders believe in the stimulative effects of stimulative government spending…) End of explanation, no?* Except…

  Dow down more than 400 points as market plunge continues – latimes.com. Related posts: Damn this guy sounds like me Screw the Rich to Protect Super-Rich Campaign Contributors? Study Sez: Rich States Are Full of Swingers Jim Manzi Disappoints on the Devastation of Lead and Crime Why is the militia clause there at all?

Click for source. Demand for credit continues to decline, while corporate (especially financial) cash balances are at an all-time high. What are supply-siders smoking? See here and the links therein for much more evidence of the same. Related posts: Don’t Like “Money Printing”? Then Stop Borrowing. Whip Inflation Now! Did I Mention Mentioning that It’s…

Very interesting thinking from The Economist‘s Democracy in America (whoever that is) on the (apparent) lack of demand in our current economy: …people … may not be interested in buying a new car this year, but … they’re very interested in riding the subway … There is demand out there. It just isn’t for individual consumer goods. This…