My buddy is training for his third Chicago Marathon. I’m preparing for a 10K mud-run. He’s really fit and a family nurse practitioner, so I seek his advice on how to get in shape and what to eat. His advice…
Is Jeb Bush’s 4% growth promise too good to be true?
Reuters
Jeb Bush recently announced his candidacy for president by declaring that “our country is on a very bad course” and promised to fix this with the striking promise of “4% growth, and the 19 million new…
A protest in San Juan against government cuts.
REUTERS/Alvin Baez
Pedro Caban, University at Albany, State University of New York
Puerto Rico’s economic woes have led some analysts to compare it to Greece. Paradoxically, Puerto Rico’s colonial status explains both its growth and the impending financial debacle.
Most private sector workers are feeling fatter wallets these days because inflation has been so low.
Wallet via www.shutterstock.com
While a surge in hiring by small companies is helping lower the jobless rate, larger firms paying higher salaries play a bigger role in keeping the recovery alive.
Are the eyes windows into her soul or the FOMC rate-hike calendar?
Reuters
Every year I ask my class on “Wealth and Poverty” to play a simple game. I have them split up into pairs, and imagine I’m giving one of them $1,000. They can keep some of the money only on condition they…
The recent political standoff that shut down the US government for 16 days and came uncomfortably close to the debt ceiling extension deadline is now thankfully over — for the moment. Given the current…
While the US government remains shut down, the long game for Republicans like Speaker John Boehner remains the debt ceiling crisis.
EPA/Jim Lo Scalzo
The US government shutdown is in its second week, but attention in the country has shifted elsewhere: to the looming debt ceiling crisis. On October 17, the US runs out of money to pay its bills. Both…
Odds are Republicans will decide to, once again, raise the debt ceiling rather than face sovereign default. But what lies beyond the vote for Obama?
AAP
Most commentary on the US government shutdown concerns the apparent disregard some pigheaded Republicans have for the harm it could do to the American and global economies. While the shutdown will likely…
Republican Speaker John Boehner faced a choice between two unappetising gambles on Monday night. One option was to cut a deal with Democrats to continue federal government spending at present levels, and…
Big car firms now make huge sums from financial subsidiaries.
Martin Rickett/PA
In both the US and UK, policymakers have been excited to see a small but significant increase in manufacturing activity and exports. While growth in manufacturing jobs has been sporadic, the creation of…
With the US economy experiencing an extremely slow recovery from the recession of 2007-09, debates over the role of monetary policy have come to the forefront, especially given the variety of new powers…
In aiming for a deficit in 2013-14, Treasurer Wayne Swan has made a future surplus more likely.
AAP
Recent years have demonstrated the enduring strength of a core Keynesian insight: deficit spending may result in higher growth and enable states to move more quickly into surplus. In this light, Australian…
Barack Obama’s recent budget pursues the goals of full employment and fiscal balance, objectives that were heavily emphasised under Bill Clinton’s leadership.
AAP
Is it 2013 or 1999? Barack Obama’s evolution into a more successful Bill Clinton may be complete with the issuance of his recent budget. On the one hand, Obama’s budget cuts entitlement spending by adopting…
The US remains the most militarily powerful nation on Earth - but will budget cuts bring it back to the fold?
EPA/Zurab Kurtsikidze
The maelstrom surrounding budget cuts that has engulfed the United States over the last twelve months seems no nearer to reaching a satisfactory conclusion. The U.S. Congressional House and Senate currently…
The deadline for the US budget sequester —which will see across-the-board spending cuts of $US 85 billion implemented over the fiscal year — is rapidly approaching.
AAP
The first thing you should know about the sequester is that nearly everyone agrees that it’s a bad idea. In fact, that was the point. In the summer of 2011, with congressional Republicans refusing to raise…
President Obama has proposed raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9, reigniting the debate about the effect of a wage hike on unemployment.
flickr\brianwallace
In his State of the Union address, US President Barack Obama reignited a perennial debate in his proposal to increase the minimum wage from its current level of $7.25 an hour to $9.00 an hour. Advocating…
By opting for restraint in his state of the union speech, Obama presented his ideas not as bold initiatives to revive the liberal tradition, but as pragmatic proposals with widespread bipartisan support.
EPA
Barack Obama opened his fourth state of the union address to Congress with words from another Democratic president, John Kennedy: “The Constitution makes us not rivals for power but partners for progress…
Obama outlined an ambitious economic agenda to foster growth and rebuild America’s middle class.
AAP
President Obama left little doubt during his State of the Union address as to what his top priority will be in the years ahead. “A growing economy that creates good, middle-class jobs”, the President declared…