Political Economy category archive
The Fiscally Impossible 0
Steve Chapman’s column today seems rather muddled.
He seems to start off intending to counter claims that President Obama’s administration has, by and large, pursued responsible budgetary policies (“Yes, Virginia, there was a spending binge”).
Unfortunately for that thesis, Chapman finds this line derailed by some of those pesky “facts” for which he seems to have an unusual respect (which is one reason I read his columns).
He winds up admitting that the legacy of Bushonomics makes reducing (or even restraining) the national debt, at least in the short term, a fiscally impossible endeavor (emphasis added).
Maybe so, but he couldn’t have done it without the GOP. Under Bush, the budget surplus — yes, we once had a federal budget surplus — vanished, giving way to repeated deficits running into the hundreds of billions.
Under Bush, the publicly held federal debt more than doubled. One reason Obama has run deficits is that he has to cover the interest payments for all the borrowing done before he took over.
Bush, it’s worth noting, didn’t launch his spending spree in his final fiscal year. He did it in his first. From 2001 to 2008, federal spending rose by 31 percent, after adjustment for inflation, and went from 18.2 percent of GDP to 20.8 percent of GDP — a 14 percent increase. Oh, and then there was the 2009 deluge of red ink, most of which came from Bush’s inkwell.
Republicans: watch what they do, not what they say.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
and not much change:
(snip useless drivel and about “economists predicted”)
The unemployment insurance report showed the four-week moving average of claims, a less-volatile measure, climbed to 382,000, the highest since April 28, from 378,500.
The number of people continuing to collect jobless benefits decreased by 33,000 in the week ended June 2 to 3.28 million. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of workers receiving extended benefits under federal programs.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Not great, but not nearly so bad as all the agonizing this week would seem to have anticipated.
Indeed, a bit of a drop, for all practical purposes, no chance.
(snip)
The four-week moving average of claims, a less-volatile measure, climbed to 377,750, the highest in a month, from 376,000.
The number of people continuing to collect jobless benefits increased 34,000 in the week ended May 26 to 3.29 million. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of workers receiving extended benefits under federal programs.
The Confidence Fairy 0
Describing what’s happening in Greece, Atrios encapsulates the sales pitech for “austerity” in order to “restore confidence”:
By making sure nobody had any money, everyone would have the confidence to spend!
Aside:
Have you noticed that the proponents of “auterity” have one outstanding thing in common:
Money, lots of money.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Still, for all practical purposes, treading water:
(snip)
The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure, rose to 374,500 from 370,750.
The number of people continuing to collect jobless benefits dropped by 36,000 in the week ended May 19 to 3.24 million. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of workers receiving extended benefits under federal programs.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Still treading water:
(snip)
The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure, fell to 370,000, the lowest in a month, from 375,500.
The number of people continuing to collect jobless benefits dropped by 29,000 in the week ended May 12 to 3.26 million. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of workers receiving extended benefits under federal programs.
Mittonomics: Not a Distraction 0
Instead, a destruction.
Excerpt: “When you are president, you job is not to maximize profits.”
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Bloomberg: Unemployments holds stead at 370k. Still treading water.
The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure than the weekly figures, fell to 375,000 last week from 379,750.
(snip)
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits rose by 18,000 in the week ended May 5 to 3.27 million.
The continuing claims figure does not include the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs.
Update from the Foreclosure-Based Economy 0
Uh oh.
Locally, foreclosures and short sales as a portion of all sales reached a high of 42 percent in May 2011.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Still stalled:
(snip)
The Labor Department said the four-week moving average of claims, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figures, decreased to 379,000 last week from 384,250 the previous period.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits dropped to 3.23 million in the week ended April 28 from 3.29 million. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
A little better.
(snip)
The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figures, climbed to 383,500 last week from 382,750.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits fell to 3.28 million in the week ended April 21 from 3.33 million.
