The New Deal: What Worked, What Didn't - 11/25/08
MANY people are looking back to the Great Depression and the New Deal for answers to our problems. But while we can learn important lessons from this period, they’re not always the ones taught in school.
The traditional story is that President Franklin D. Roosevelt rescued capitalism by resorting to extensive government intervention; the truth is that Roosevelt changed course from year to year,... More
What Is An American Car? - 11/21/08
Before "loaning"� billions more in taxpayer money to some very bad credit risks, simply because they are old American brands associated with Detroit, we might ask what distinguishes these companies from... More
Bailout After Bankruptcy, Not Before - 11/21/08
Edward L. Glaeser is an economist at Harvard.
Should billions of taxpayer dollars be used to bail out the automobile industry?
Hard-line economists argue that Detroit lost its way decades ago, and that government support for this industry will be worse than wasteful. Industrial policy advocates disagree, arguing that millions of jobs are at stake and that a General Motors bankruptcy would be a national disaster. ... More
Parenting the Economy - 11/20/08
President-elect Obama announced the other day that the government would do "whatever it takes" to revive the economy.
I suppose that made some people feel good. After all, who wouldn't want tireless effort in the face of a crucial problem?
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Reorganizing GM - 11/18/08
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Should the government bail out the U.S. auto industry to keep the players from going into bankruptcy?—Bill VanderMolen, Pittsfield Township, Mich.
How about this instead: The boards of Chrysler and General Motors (GM) put their companies into bankruptcy with the clear intent of reorganization and merger. As radical as that sounds,... More
Unions, Taxpayers and Detroit - 11/14/08
« The trouble with bailouts | Main
13 Nov 2008 04:07 pm
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Fiscal Woes of States and Cities - 11/14/08
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Which States Impose Fewest Economic Constraints? - 11/12/08
South Dakota is most free, New York most economically oppressedSan Francisco – The Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a free-market think tank based in California, today released the U.S. Economic Freedom Index: 2008 Report, a ranking of economic freedom in the 50 states. Published in association with Forbes, the Index scores states based on 143 variables, including regulatory and fiscal obstacles imposed on businesses and... More
The Californiaization of U.S. Energy Policy - 11/12/08
I subscribe to an Internet newsletter called Energy Central and the news is getting more depressing every week. Every time I scan the headlines I realize I'm looking at another piece of a gathering energy debacle.
Take last Thursday's edition. Right at the top of the page was the story, "Xcel Energy, eXco Join in Major Wind Farm Developments in Minnesota,... More
Groupthink and Bubbles - 11/04/08
ROBERT J. SHILLER Published: November 1, 2008
ALAN GREENSPAN, the former Federal Reserve chairman, acknowledged in a Congressional hearing last month that he had made an “error” in assuming that the markets would properly regulate themselves, and added that he had no idea a financial disaster was in the making. What’s more, he said the Fed’s own computer models and economic experts simply “did not... More