Based on Incomes, Americans Are a Lot Better Off Under…
In their only 1980 presidential debate, Ronald Reagan posed a famous question that sealed Jimmy Carter's political fate: "Are you better now than you were four years ago?" Bill Clinton similarly denied George H. W. Bush a second term in 1992 by running a campaign based on James Carville's famous expression, "It's the economy, stupid." Donald Trump faces a real… Continue reading
Stimulus for the Long Run
When Congress returns to Washington following the election, its first priority will be to pass another stimulus package for the sinking economy. It’s already clear that the package will involve about $200 billion in new stimulus or a boost equal to about 1.4 percent of GDP. The question is what form should the package take. The path of least political…Continue reading
Who’s in Charge?
As American tangle with an accelerating economic downturn, scarily-volatile stock markets, and an array of bailout and other emergency programs, yet another pitfall has become apparent: There’s no one at the helm of the economy or efforts to help it. President George W. Bush is nearly entirely absent, the Treasury Secretary cannot commit the nation to new policies, and now…Continue reading
Nothing to Fear More than Fear Itself
Congress tried late last week to stall the financial crisis by pledging to spend $700 billion on devalued securities held by financial institutions, and by Monday morning it was clear that the pledge wasn’t enough to reassure investors or restart lending. Instead, a classic panic has set in here and around much of the world as public confidence in banks,…Continue reading
Congress Acts: A Little Better Than Nothing
The $750 trillion bailout plan that the Senate approved, and which the House is expected to endorse reluctantly, could give us all a little more breathing room in the current economic crisis, but it won’t resolve anything. It’s much the same plan the House voted down a few days ago, with a bushel of tax breaks calculated to draw more…Continue reading
It’s a Bad Bailout
Congress is now embroiled in an important and passionate debate about the Bush Administration’s rescue-bailout plan. Get past the anxiety, and it seems clear that the plan will not resolve the underlying problems driving the crisis, the deterioration of the housing market. And in another instance of the Bush economic doctrine, it would transfer untold billions of dollars from ordinary…Continue reading
Crisis on Wall Street
This week’s financial developments have unfolded in the ways that keep people up at night and spark panic in even seasoned investors. And it’s not over yet — we’re perhaps midway through the financial crisis (which actually could get much worse), and headed fast into a serious and disturbing recession. It’s as if the economy entered a time warp and…Continue reading
Understanding the Mortgage Crisis
It’s a truism of this time, though one often doubted, that globalization is fundamentally good for healthy, successful economies. But unchecked and unscrutinized, globalization also can impose terrible costs, as we see clearly in this week’s U.S. government bail-out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Globalization set much of the stage for the meltdown, as our government’s systematic failure to…Continue reading