Tim Fernholz

Andrew Sullivan praises the Bowles-Simpson fiscal commission and the president, apparently trying to distance himself from the left: Some left-liberal anti-debt measures do not trouble me too much: a hefty tax on Wall Street would be fine by me, for example, and obviously Obama is going to have to incorporate some more liberal debt-reduction measures. […]

Given that Ben Bernanke has been repeating his name like a mantra, it shouldn’t be a surprise that some sharp eyes have found an interview where famed monetary economist Milton Friedman endorses just the kind of creative policy the Fed has recently adopted — i.e. purchasing long-term securities in attempt to stimulate the economy. Here […]

The president’s decision to preempt his meeting with Republican leadership tomorrow for a surprise announcement — a freeze in federal employee pay — shows that Obama is finally turning his attention to the most pressing economic issue facing our country: The high pay earned by government employees. Just my little joke, of course, because federal […]

“Everywhere there’s a U.S. post, there’s a diplomatic scandal that will be revealed,” wrote the suspected source of the newest batch of Wikileaks. “It’s open diplomacy. World-wide anarchy in CSV format. It’s Climategate with a global scope, and breathtaking depth. It’s beautiful, and horrifying.” Of course, the Climategate to which he refers, a ‘scandal’ that […]

Over the weekend, global financial institutions officially bailed out Ireland. $90 billion in loans will go to the Irish government, which in turn will use most of them to bail out the banks, leaving little left over for upcoming emergencies. Felix Salmon has already called the amount “underwhelming,” and he’s right — if history is […]

In an unsurprising move, House Republicans are gearing up to hinder the work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, established this past summer by the Dodd-Frank financial-reform legislation: While they have little hope of repealing the new consumer agency—which has broad powers to write rules for mortgages, credit cards and other financial products—Republicans can work […]