Post Tagged with: "Politics"
[PREMIUM] The Fed’s Rate easing and Obama’s Mortgage refi plan are bullish
Investors must still be worried about the fallout from the European meltdown. However, the situation in the US is looking much better than it did last week because of this aggressive policy response
A Month In Spain That Didn’t Shake The World
Spain’s economic problems are very grave. The country is facing a decade long depression, and if enough young qualified people leave during this period then the country could enter a negative dynamic from which it will never properly recover. At the outset (2007) I and others argued for a 20% internal devaluation to shift resources over to the export sector. This did not happen, and virtually no one is interested in the idea. The main priorities are still reducing the deficit, and restructuring the financial sector without injecting any significant quantity of public money. Both these policies are contractionary in their impact. In addition the proposed labour market reform is timid, and won’t act quickly enough to stop the rot on the growth front
The Importance of the Mario Brothers
They are not really brothers, but Mario Draghi and Mario Monti are countrymen and are doing a great deal to respond to the European debt crisis in ways that were unimaginable until very recently
EU leaders are already backtracking on the agreement of 5 weeks ago
The big news out of Europe on Friday was not S&P’s downgrade of 9 countries, France included. The ratings agency told us weeks ago that it might do this. No, much more important was the ECB’s saying in the bluntest possible terms that the EU leaders are backtracking on the fiscal compact agreed just 5 weeks ago by 26 of the 27 countries
Stephen Colbert for President of the United States
Colbert says “clearly, my fellow South Caroliniacs see me as the only viable “Mitt-ternative”. Take a look
The Job Guarantee, Kleptocracy and Blogging
A post about the job guarantee idea in the context of a historic economic crisis
Is MMT’s Job Guarantee Crucial?
Pavlina Tcherneva argues that the job guarantee is not just an afterthought to MMT but a crucial component that has so far offered the most coherent counter-cyclical economic stabilizing mechanism
Byron Wien’s Ten Surprises for 2012
As always, I present you Byron Wien’s Ten Surprises for 2011. He is bullish yet again – on both the US and emerging markets
A Quiet Putsch in Hungary?
A putsch, as any dictionary will tell you, refers to the violent overthrow of a government. Hungary has not been subject to that kind of action per se, but rather a more insidious grab for power. Its new constitution goes into effect today, and while perfectly legal, marks the end of Hungary’s flirtation with liberalism (meant in the classical sense of “liberty” and not the modern partisan sense)
The Rain In Spain Falls Mainly On The Journalists, It Seems
Nothing in Spain is exactly as it appears to be, and that few of the arguments politicians and so called “experts” advance are entirely innocent. Most “information” circulating in Spain is highly politicised. Really “independent” analysts are virtually unknown
Unemployment Insurance for the 21st Century: The Job Guarantee as an Alternative to Enforced Idleness
A new universal direct job creation program would improve working conditions in the private sector as employees would have the option of moving into the JG program. Hence, private sector employers would have to offer a wage and benefit package and working conditions at least as good as those offered by the JG program. The informal sector would shrink as workers become integrated into formal employment, gaining access to protection provided by labor laws
News Links: Growth Is Not an Easy Solution for Europe’s Woes
News links for 11 Dec 2011 on European growth, the sovereign debt crisis, Technology IPOs and patents, US elections and more