The “news” on cable TV seems skewed toward partisan bickering on topics our politicians refuse to address seriously. They criticize their opponents and quickly move on to the next allegation in the hope that some of the mud will stick. These unending arguments are fueled by the stylish, everchanging topics in the social justice bucket. […]
deficit
Generational Theft: Some Deficits Hurt Young Workers the Most
What do the national debt, Social Security, and many defined benefit pensions have in common? No one expects the citizens of one generation to pay their own way. In recent years, only part of current federal spending is covered by current tax collections – the rest is funded from borrowed money that future generations are […]
Government Shutdown Déjà vu
Most consumers would welcome some events again; the birth or college graduation of a child, paying off our mortgage, or man on the moon. But government shutdown and debt ceiling “chicken” are not on the welcome list. In October this year, politicians grossly overestimated their constituents’ support for a budget grudge match. Those hostilities may […]
Sequester Fables
Chicken Little lacked the aggressiveness of DC’s political fabulists, but he was just as wrong. The sequester has real consequences, yet in our world the sky is not falling. And despite stylish braying, when we awaken tomorrow grannie and the little kids will still be alive and cared for. The spending cut of $1.2 trillion […]
The Deeper Budget Picture, Again in 2013
In 2012, the fiscal cliff with its toxic brew of tax, debt, spending, Obamacare, and flood of new regulations drew well-reasoned arguments and partisan hissing matches. We can expect that pattern of scuffles to continue in 2013. At times, we were held back from fisticuffs by our culture of peaceful conflict resolution and respect for […]
The Many Downsides of Central Bank Printing Money
The US Federal Reserve Bank (the Fed), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) have each launched an aggressive new bond-buying program to push down the cost of debt and to thereby add stimulus to their flagging economies. Through this “Quantitative Easing” (QE or in plain language, “money-printing”) the Fed will […]
Will Public Flogging Improve Their Performance? (Fiscal Cliff—Part 5)
Mature parents know that when teaching children they need to establish an understandable and shared goal, and patiently model the desired behavior. Praising a child’s efforts and providing opportunities for practice can help the child succeed. Beating the child with a stick or publicly condemning the child’s character won’t lead to success. Successful entrepreneurs, supervisors […]
Straight to the Point — We Need a Leader with a Vision (Fiscal Cliff Part 2)
There are three big economic tasks we need Washington to accomplish: avert the $700 billion “fiscal cliff” error created by Congress and the White House; set the national debt on a downward glide path; and restore normal incentives for American businesses to invest and hire. The American public says these problems are of high importance. […]
Saving the Economy Means Cutting the Waste
As most anyone can see, federal spending has gotten out of control. As you read this, the so called “Super Committee” is looking for ways to cut billions from the federal budget in an attempt get spending under control and, hopefully, right the drifting ship that is our economy. While most agree that Congress needs […]
Letter to Congress: Taxing Spectrum Would Be Bad for Wireless Consumers
Read a coalition letter to Congress spectrum tax. Our conclusion — using the sale of spectrum to reduce the deficit is a good idea, but taxing the spectrum is bad wireless consumers.