The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Does Congress Know What It’s Doing?

A Rasmussen poll finds that seven out of 10 likely voters said “nuh-uh” when asked, “How confident are you that Congress knows what it’s doing when it comes to addressing the country’s current economic problems?” Of those surveyed, 29% said, “Not very confident,” while 43% said “Not at all confident.” (Evidently, “Are you freaking kidding […]

Everybody Should Buy Gold, Even If Glenn Beck Gets Paid to Tell You So

Look, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 300 points today, and the DJIA is down more than 1,130 points since closing at 11,205 on April 26. The Greek debt crisis is pulling down the European economy, more than 700 U.S. banks are now on the FDIC “troubled” list, and concern about a “double-dip” recession is becoming mainstream. Now, let’s look […]

‘You Can’t Just Build a New Bridge’

The advocates of Hope and Change experience one of those Pogo moments — “We have met the enemy, and he is us” — as Harold Meyerson explains: There are complex reasons why we have not built 21st-century versions of [Depression-era] job programs. . . . The real problem . . . is that some programs […]

What ‘Structural’ Unemployment Means

We have previously discussed the difference between “cyclical” unemployment — temporary job losses caused by a dip in the business cycle — and “structural” unemployment, which is a function of fundamental changes in the economy. That is to say, if you’re waiting for the buggy-whip industry to rebound, you’re going to be waiting a long time. […]

Stock Market Pussy Goes
Where Gravity Leads

by Smitty (h/t Instapundit, who likes him some cat bloggin’) Sissypuss the Bailout Kitty, willing to work that purr as required, landed a job on Wall Street, as a result of all the financial reform afoot. But trying to herd those stocks is just like herding kittens. Despite the best efforts, the only direction they […]

The Fiercely Independent Partisan Hackmanship of Ezra Klein

At some point, “progressive” becomes just another synonym for “whatever Democrats want”: Greece . . . is a bailout Republicans can finally be against. TARP, after all, was proposed by the Bush administration and attracted a substantial number of Republican votes in Congress. Not so with Greece. . . . Ezra Klein goes on from […]

Inigo Montoya, Economist At Large

by Smitty (KisP) Hope’n’Change cartoons has produced a keeper:

Second Half of a ‘W’-Shaped Recession?

The obverse of “irrational exuberance” is unwarranted pessimism, and market bears run the risk of discrediting themselves by continually warning of a meltdown. Excuse me if you’ve already seen this video of the online stock-market seminar guy who got ridiculously excited about that temporary 1,000-point Dow drop last week: OK, so that guy was pathetic. However, […]

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