A new report shows that projected ten-year deficits have shrunk by nearly $5 trillion since 2010, which is pretty remarkable. It seems like just yesterday that the Simpson-Bowles Commission released it’s findings amid a fierce debate over the budget deficit. read more
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Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
It’s Inequality That Fuels Envy, Not Populism
Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone is the latest rich guy to make a fool of out of himself by invoking Nazism to condemn populist attacks on inequality. Langone has apologized, but it’s worth looking beyond the Hitler analogy to more closely examine Langone’s main point that “You don’t survive as a society if you encourage […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Why Not Peg EITC Benefits to the Local Cost of Living?
It’s no secret that the cost of living varies widely across different parts of the United States, and that it can be much tougher to make ends meet on a low wage job in Manhattan, New York than in Manhattan, Kansas. So here’s an obvious idea: Let’s improve the Earned Income Tax Credit so that […]
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Who’s the Best President Since FDR?
This is a good question, and one that gets asked less than you might think. It being President’s Day, let’s go through the list since 1945 and see who comes out looking best. My report card may surprise you. Harry Truman I’m not a big fan. Truman allowed hawks in his administration, led by Dean […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Speculation and the New Housing Bubble
Housing prices are up, but is that necessarily good news?
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End Deferred Taxes on Foreign Corporate Profits Now!
More than half of the Fortune 500 accumulated $1.5 trillion in overseas profits, much of it untaxed
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Home Mortgage Tax Break May Be Vulnerable After All
Nearly every politician says they want tax reform, but it’s hard to imagine many having an appetite for curtailing today’s biggest tax expenditures — particularly the home mortgage interest deduction. Or maybe that’s wrong. A recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that limiting tax breaks for home mortgages was one of the most […]
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What Happens If the Culture War Disappears?
It’s hard to know what audience members will ask the candidates in tonight’s debate, but here’s a prediction: Issues like gay marriage, abortion, crime, and affirmative action will barely come up, if at all. We are living in the twilight of the great culture war — a forty-year battle over social issues that helped separate […]
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Morgan Stanley and the Costs of Predatory Lending
The Pew Research Center issued a deeply troubling study last year which found that black and hispanic households had suffered a much bigger decline in their net worth as a result of the Great Recession than white households. The net worth of hispanics went down by 66 percent between 2005 and 2009, blacks by 53 […]
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Would It Be So Bad to Take From Medicare and Give to Obamacare?
The moral and practical case for preventative care.