Asymptosis: Always Approaching

Tag: europe

  • Europe vs. U.S.: Family Time Versus Four-by-Fours and Two-by-Fours

    Finally! Someone has come back at me (well he didn’t know he was talking to me) with the key, perhaps-trumping argument on my Europe vs. US longatribes. I gave this argument away in a previous post, hoping someone would pick it up, but have yet to hear it well enunciated elsewhere. Summary of my arguments:…

  • Ahh, for European Stability…

    If there’s one thing people would like more of these days, it’s stability. When the economy rockets up one year, then plummets or stagnates the next, it’s bad for everyone–especially those farther down the income scale, who have less recourse in face of national and global events that are completely beyond their control. This got…

  • Tax-Cutting Republicans? Get Real

    Put aside for the moment the current Republican presidential candidate’s tax plan, which imposes higher taxes on 250 million Americans than the Democratic candidate’s plan. The simple fact is–as innumerable sages (at least since Adam Smith) have pointed out–spending is taxing. Three choices (laid out very nicely by Brad DeLong): Raise taxes in the future.…

  • Europe vs. US: Who’s Winning?

    Update June 2012: See data through 2010 here. People love to cherry-pick statistics to show that the US, or Europe, is winning the growth game. That got me curious: if you look at all the possible growth periods, who’s ahead (most)? Short answer: no clear winner.  The results look pretty random. Over the longest periods,…