Political Bloviation

This was a gem from Krugman, I don’t usually copy an entire post, but this was worth it:
Jonathan Chait and Robert Waldmann, in slightly different ways, highlight a crucial dynamic in American political debate: the extent to which public figures are punished for actually knowing what they’re talking about.
It goes like this: Person A says [...]

The problem with the stimulus bill was that it was too small. Republicans were allowed to substitute tax cuts, which most reputable economists deem least effective for stimulating the economy in the name of bipartisanship.
Imagine if, one year ago, Congress had passed a stimulus bill that really worked.
Let’s say this bill had started spending money [...]

People still use pay phones? Who knew? The NY Times did story where they followed the activity of a phone booth in Queens for a week. I found this little vignette touching:
Mr. Patir, 59, pulled a quarter from a pocket. He happened to be walking by the phone booth when he decided to call his [...]

My personal favorite Nobel Prize winning economist has a take on why Canada came out of the recent banking disaster relatively unscathed, while the US economy and financial institutions took a major beat down. It all comes back to the regulatory environment. The US decided, or rather the captains of industry in banking and a [...]

Krugman puts a stake in the ground on HCR:
Op-Ed Columnist – Do the Right Thing – NYTimes.com.
A message to House Democrats: This is your moment of truth. You can do the right thing and pass the Senate health care bill. Or you can look for an easy way out, make excuses and fail the test [...]

Republican Opposition to Obama Plan for Deficit Panel – NYTimes.com.
Well of course they oppose a panel for deficit reduction, they created it. It came from unfunded tax cuts and benefit increases (think Medicare Part D), coupled with two unfunded foreign wars. They see Democrats retreating on HCR and are pressing their advantage. Democrats still lack [...]

Op-Ed Columnist – Learning From Europe – NYTimes.com.
Krugman tries to talk sense to reflexive Euro-bashers.  Adopting a more humane attitude by taking steps to ensure everyone in the richest nation on earth has access to health care isn’t going to turn us into some kind of socialist dystopian nightmare. And the idea that Europe is [...]

After a long day of acid, partisan debate, Senate Democrats held ranks early Monday in a dead-of-night procedural vote that proved they had locked in the decisive margin needed to pass a far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s health care system.
via Health Bill Passes Key Test in the Senate With 60 Votes – NYTimes.com.
Something is better [...]

Digital Domain – AT&T Takes the Fall for the iPhone’s Glitches – NYTimes.com.
The issue seems to be with the iphone’s radios, not with the AT&T network. Don’t get me wrong I love my iphone as an internet device and music player, even for some portable gaming action. Not so much as a phone. We’re a [...]

Krugman is right more often than his colleagues in economics. There’s a reason he’s a Nobel prize winner in economics.
The good news is that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a k a the Obama stimulus plan, is working just about the way textbook macroeconomics said it would. But that’s also the bad news — [...]

From my perspective this is just stating the obvious, but in Washington politics always trumps economic common sense.
…Washington is mired in a warped political debate. Congressional Republicans say continued economic weakness is proof that February’s stimulus package failed. Lawmakers in both parties fret that large budget deficits preclude more stimulus, lest the burden of debt [...]

Birthers of a nation – Paul Krugman Blog – NYTimes.com.

Are people in the south really that stupid? Apparently they are…

Gail Collins distills the wisdom of the Wasilla Wonder to it’s essence:
“And a problem in our country today is apathy,” she said on Friday as she announced that she would resign as governor of Alaska at the end of the month. “It would be apathetic to just hunker down and ‘go with the flow.’ Nah, [...]

Paul, you are scaring the crap out of me:
Op-Ed Columnist – Fighting Off Depression – NYTimes.com.
The fact is that recent economic numbers have been terrifying, not just in the United States but around the world. Manufacturing, in particular, is plunging everywhere. Banks aren’t lending; businesses and consumers aren’t spending. Let’s not mince words: This looks [...]

The obvious truth about text messaging: you’re getting ripped off – Engadget Mobile.
I saw the NY Times article that the Engadget Mobile post talks about. The shorter version is: Wireless Carriers, in an absence of regulations, have decided it’s profitable to, as a group, triple texting rates to force more revenue per subscriber.
Now, I’m really [...]

Op-Ed Columnist – Paul Krugman – Fifty Herbert Hoovers – NYTimes.com.
Krugman is concerned that state level spending cuts will counteract federal level stimulus.
But even as Washington tries to rescue the economy, the nation will be reeling from the actions of 50 Herbert Hoovers — state governors who are slashing spending in a time of recession, [...]

All-stars – Paul Krugman – Op-Ed Columnist – New York Times Blog
Krugman nails exactly what I was thinking when I heard that Clinton wants Greenspan on a blue ribbon commission to find a solution to the mortgage crisis. Hey, let’s appoint Wiley E. Coyote to build effective road-runner traps! That will solve everything!! Hooray, let’s [...]