Economics

We Don’t Hate the Rich

December 20, 2011 Economics

Joshua M. Brown, a financial advisor, responding to JPMorgan Chase & Co. chief executive officer, Jaime Dimon’s lament that Americans hate the rich: I am writing to profess my utter disbelief at how little you seem to understand the current mood of the nation. In a story at Bloomberg today, you and a handful of […]

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Private Equity Gets a Lower Tax Rate. Why?

December 19, 2011 Business

Reading a New York Times Story on Mitt Romney’s continued receipt of income from Bain Capital, a company he left in early 1999, I was reminded of the special tax deal that hedge fund and private equity operators get. Tax treatment of hedge fund and private equity compensation has been another point of political contention. […]

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GASB Proposal to Require State & Local Governments to do Five Year Cash Flow Projections

December 19, 2011 Cash

Thanks to Lisa Henty, from the Orange County, NC Budget Office, for reminding us that the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is seeking public comment on a Preliminary Views proposing that state and local governments prepare financial projections to better present their economic conditions. From the December 6, 2011, GASB press release: The GASB is […]

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What Happened to Health Coverage Around 1980, What happened the Last Dozen Years and Why it Still Makes a Difference

December 12, 2011 Economics

Interesting chart (the second one) posted by Lane Kenworthy today and some interesting debates and here on when the US healthcare system performance began to look different from the rest of the world. Kenworthy’s chart depicts the relationship between health expenditures per capita and life expectancy. Here’s my contribution from a while back, while I […]

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Economics in the Real World. Humanities in Economics

December 8, 2011 Economics

This is not merely clever teaching. It’s brilliant at a deep level because it brings a human story to economics and economics to a human story. It combines reading and analyzing a classic novel about the Great Depression with a technical economics textbook. Combining dialog with demand curves, Stephen Ziliak, Trustee and Professor of Economics […]

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The Shin Bone’s Connected to the Thigh Bone

December 7, 2011 Business

My friend and colleague, Tim Maniccia, who runs Policy Innovation, noted some interesting connections yesterday. What triggered Tim’s observations was the bankruptcy of American Airlines. The first thing he noted was that American’s four pension plans cover almost 130,000 participants, but they have only $8.3 billion in assets to cover $18.5 billion in benefits. Were […]

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Best Way to Herd Cats

December 6, 2011 Control

From Keith W. Boone on Twitter (@motorcycle_guy): “Best way to herd cats? Move the food bowl.”

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What if Federal Income Tax Rates Were Higher at High Income Levels?

December 6, 2011 Economics

The Tax Policy Center, a joint effort of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution dispenses with the question of how much how much tax revenue is generated at higher levels of tax rates. It also undermines some of the supply-side scripture that high marginal tax rates are counterproductive. The evidence here suggests that the […]

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“We’re on a Roll”

December 2, 2011 Budget

How could, “we’re on a roll,” not be the quote of the day for budget geeks, especially in New York? Last night, New York Citizen One (formerly Albany Citizen One, but now renamed in honor of her expanding empire) attended the Audit & Finance Committee of the Albany County Legislature as they finalized their budget […]

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The Rich Get Richer … Connecting the Economic, Political & Social Dots

November 8, 2011 Economics

Inequality is both effect and cause. Inequality of income and resources is indeed a significant, even profound social, political and economic problem. But this did not just happen suddenly and, by itself, it’s not enough to explain the current unrest. That’s more because a large proportion of the public has come to the conclusion (rightly, […]

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