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Krugman links
2011-05-08 14:25Big dump! Most of them are short. Maybe leave a tab open and work through gradually?
General themes or special notes:
* bond market is not a problem (even the Standard and Poor warning about US debt had no effect), inflation is not a problem, unemployment is the huge problem. Naturally Very Serious People in DC are worried about bond and inflation vigilantes and no one talks about unemployment.
* The deficit, especially as the stimulus programs tail off, is because of a big slump in revenue -- from my own reading, from $2.7 trillion 3 years go to $2.3 trillion -- and rise in income security spending, i.e. unemployment insurance, food stamps, Medicaid. I.e., not from any new programs Obama has irresponsibly created, but from the back that employment has collapsed and we try to keep people from starving.
* Paul Ryan is a flim flam man who's Very Serious Budget Plan calls for $3 trillion of tax cuts yet claims to be revenue neutral, due to closing of loopholes which are never actually identified. Meanwhile progressives do have a budget plan, that would actually balance the budget. Yes, through raising taxes., to levels still well short of other developed countries.
* 400 people get 10% of all capital gains
* UK and Ireland are disproving the austerity plans that Very Serious People advocate, and proving Keynesianism. But no one understands Keynesianism any more, or listens to those who do.
* Raising the Medicare eligibility age: hey, who doesn't live as long, and tend to take jobs that lead to more health problems earlier? That's right, poor people.
( Dark Age Ahead )
General themes or special notes:
* bond market is not a problem (even the Standard and Poor warning about US debt had no effect), inflation is not a problem, unemployment is the huge problem. Naturally Very Serious People in DC are worried about bond and inflation vigilantes and no one talks about unemployment.
* The deficit, especially as the stimulus programs tail off, is because of a big slump in revenue -- from my own reading, from $2.7 trillion 3 years go to $2.3 trillion -- and rise in income security spending, i.e. unemployment insurance, food stamps, Medicaid. I.e., not from any new programs Obama has irresponsibly created, but from the back that employment has collapsed and we try to keep people from starving.
* Paul Ryan is a flim flam man who's Very Serious Budget Plan calls for $3 trillion of tax cuts yet claims to be revenue neutral, due to closing of loopholes which are never actually identified. Meanwhile progressives do have a budget plan, that would actually balance the budget. Yes, through raising taxes., to levels still well short of other developed countries.
* 400 people get 10% of all capital gains
* UK and Ireland are disproving the austerity plans that Very Serious People advocate, and proving Keynesianism. But no one understands Keynesianism any more, or listens to those who do.
* Raising the Medicare eligibility age: hey, who doesn't live as long, and tend to take jobs that lead to more health problems earlier? That's right, poor people.
( Dark Age Ahead )