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None of us should put too much stock into any long range economic outlook. But CBO’s economic outlook impacts its (baseline) budget projections, which matter for policymaking in all kinds of ways.The LensQuick
By assuming a gloomier economy—no growth, higher unemployment, stickier inflation, and more aggressive rate hikes in the near term (among other things)—CBO is telling lawmakers that projected deficits over the period 2023-2032 will be $900 billion higher than previously forecast (back in May 2022). Part of that jump is due to higher (revised up $295B) projected debt service over that period.
Keep this in mind, because I’m going to write more about rate hikes and their budgetary impacts in my next post....
Thoughts on CBO's Budget and Economic Outlook
Stephanie Kelton | Professor of Public Policy and Economics at Stony Brook University, formerly Democrats' chief economist on the staff of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, and an economic adviser to the 2016 presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders
Stephanie Kelton | Professor of Public Policy and Economics at Stony Brook University, formerly Democrats' chief economist on the staff of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, and an economic adviser to the 2016 presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders
Not if he can help it It is damning, no doubt about it. He is such a pig… In April, Donald Trump’s lawyers are set to defend him in civil court against allegations from writer E. Jean Carroll that he raped her in a department store in the mid-’90s. When they do, they really, really want to ensure that jurors are not allowed to hear the infamous Access Hollywood tape in which Trump brags about grabbing women “by the pussy” without their consent. Why? Because they know how bad it makes him sound! In court papers filed late Thursday, Trump attorneys Alina Habba and Michael Madaio argued that the 2005 tape, which emerged while Trump was running for president the first time, should be banned from the trial. (They want both the tape itself and any references to it blocked.) Calling the recording “irrelevant and highly prejudicial,” the attorneys claim, per the Associated Press, that it “might unjustly be used to suggest to jurors that Trump had a propensity for sexual assault and therefore must have raped Carroll.” Why might the tape give jurors that idea, you ask?
4 servings You will need½ cup oil3 cloves garlic, chopped1 tablespoon minced parsley4 hake slices, each ⅓ lb., preferably cut from the center, scaledpowdered white pepperjuice of 1 lemon24 or 28 green asparagus tips, tinnedsalt Heat oil in a flat-bottomed earthenware casserole, then add garlic and minced parsley. Stir with skimmer and add some of […]
The anti-vaxxers are on a tear My loathing for these madmen knows no bounds: It was a peaceful Sunday afternoon at the Conscious Life Expo, and in a large, windowless ballroom, Del Bigtree was red-faced and triumphant in front of a captivated crowd. “These people,” he told them, “need to go to prison!” There was a smattering of solemn applause. “For life!” someone in the audience cried out. Bigtree is a TV producer turned big fish in the anti-vaccine world, and this talk was, more or less, part of his victory lap. In a lecture running nearly two hours, he accused government officials and pharmaceutical companies of fraud for promoting mRNA vaccine, and for downplaying the effectiveness of drugs like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. (Neither drug is effective as a cure, treatment, or preventative for COVID; the FDA warns against using hydroxychloroquine for COVID due to possible heart rhythm problems, and ivermectin because it can lead to problems ranging from hypotension to death.
Regional communities face more banking closures, even though some banks have stated they would put such closures on hold, writes Dale Webster. read now...I was hoping someone would do this: People keep saying, “well, duh, of course they were doing this.” I guess we all suspected they knew the truth and were lying and we certainly suspected they did much of what they did because their audience was pissed that they called Arizona. But these emails are far worse than just that. The top star of the network was worrying about the stock price and calling Trump a demonic figure in private. Others were trying to get reporters fired for telling the truth and following journalistic standards and validating people they personally believed were f-ing nuts. The chairman of the network was telling them not to report what they knew were the facts. I mean, even I didn’t think they were quite that openly corrupt among themselves. It’s a full-blown profit-making, propaganda institution and they know exactly what they are doing.
Doesn’t he ever take a day off? It’s certainly fair to warn people about various substances being laced with fentanyl. But this approach never worked in the past and it won’t work now. I think politicians (who aren’t as dumb as Trump) know this but they do it thrill their voters with lurid imagery. And preaching abstinence, as this one seems to do, is just a waste of breath. He should be talking about Naloxone and those fentanyl test strips. But he’ll never do that because this isn’t really about helping people struggling with substance use disorders or making a deadly mistake. It’s just pandering to conservatives. As usual. As Gov.
Residents of the Florida retirement community banded together to reject a property tax hike but were blocked by powerful players — including Ron DeSantis.
The post The Villages Crush a Grassroots Revolt appeared first on The Intercept.
How best to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: stop burning coal, eat less meat or block out the sun? The first and second look preferable to the third to me. How many reports do we need? Every organisation with an interest in climate change seems to produce at least one report a year that analyses countries’ Continue reading »
If war is the last resort, why doesn’t our governance system enforce that condition? Will our War Powers be reformed in 2023? A Joint Standing Committee of the parliament is currently inquiring into our “international armed conflict decision making”. There have been over a hundred submissions, and one day of public hearings (on 9 December Continue reading »
The first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine approaches. No direct dialogue has yet been established between the warring parties. Just more hostility. More weapons, always more weapons and therefore more dead people. Many of the dead are so young, as in every war and as in these pictures below from last year. Tragically they Continue reading »
The Liberal Party has made an extraordinary intervention into the parliamentary inquiry on the conduct of the 2022 Australian election. After every federal election the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (JSCEM) of the Australian Parliament holds an inquiry into the conduct of the election and matters arising. The work of JSCEM has been credited Continue reading »
Several developments in recent times suggest that T20 is a potential danger to cricket. The shortest of the game’s three main formats (there are also the Hundred and T10, but they have barely spread from their places of origin) has done much to promote cricket beyond its traditional support bases in the countries in which Continue reading »
If the COVID-19 pandemic is teaching us anything it is the important contribution of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, allied health professionals, hospital workers and teachers. Health, people, and communities are precious. My research (2015-2020) considered the dichotomies of regarding employees as assets with utility (valuable) or as people with dignity (valued). The policy implications for employers Continue reading »
This article discusses suicide. It was 10 years ago that then Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Morrison AO gave his famous speech in support of service women, (written mostly by Catherine McGregor AM). Around this time, there were five concurrent inquiries into Defence culture, including the prominent Broderick Report on the treatment of women. All of this led to Continue reading »
Funny … and sad.
Sometimes it’s hard to talk about economists about this sort of thing because they get all defensive about it.
Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science
Contradictions within economic theory. All well known but still important and, I think, not taken as seriously as they should be.
Andrew Gelman | Professor of Statistics and Political Science and Director of the Applied Statistics Center, Columbia University
Andrew Gelman | Professor of Statistics and Political Science and Director of the Applied Statistics Center, Columbia University
New resource that complements Michael Hudson's Junk Economics.
Tax Research UKThe glossary is live
Richard Murphy | Professor of Practice in International Political Economy at City University, London; Director of Tax Research UK; non-executive director of Cambridge Econometrics, and a member of the Progressive Economy Forum
Iran turns East (along with Russia), forsaking former ambitions with the West after being rejected. China is waiting with open arms to take advantage of Kissinger's nightmare scenario now become a reality.
However, this is not a military alliance (yet) but rather an economic benefit for all sides, including other countries in the region, not the least of which is India, which will receive Eurasian resources through the New Silk Road (BRI) that is being developed, although the West is trying to disrupt it.
The Vineyard of the Saker
Two articles by Pepe Escobar about China and Iran
Pepe Escobar
Just another Republican, doing what they do: A Republican consultant was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison for his role in conspiring to illegally funnel contributions from a Russian national to former President Donald Trump‘s 2016 presidential campaign. Jesse R. Benton, 45, of The Woodlands, Texas, was convicted in November on a series of charges including conspiracy, contribution by a foreign national, and causing false records to be filed with the Federal Election Commission. It’s the second time Benton, who has advised numerous GOP lawmakers on campaign strategy, has been convicted of charges related to political contributions. According to court documents, Benton schemed with Roy Douglas, another political adviser, to pass contributions to Trump’s campaign from a Russian national who wanted to meet and take a picture with the candidate. At the time, Benton was a strategist for the Great America PAC, a super PAC that backed Trump in 2016. The Russian national allegedly wired $100,000 as part of an arrangement with Benton to attend a Trump campaign fundraiser.
Representation of Black women in medicine remains stuck in the 1800s.
The post Where Are the Black Female Doctors? appeared first on Nautilus.
Former UK foreign secretary’s deep thoughts David Miliband’s jumping off point is Russia’s war in Ukraine, but his Age of Impunity is deeper and more insidious. First, former UK foreign secretary Miliband in The New York Times: The war’s impact goes far beyond the region. It has driven up food and energy prices worldwide, contributing to the record 349 million people experiencing food insecurity and to famine-like conditions in East Africa. The conduct of the war has flouted the most basic international laws and conventions, posing a fundamental threat to the global order. As such, it offers a textbook example of the Age of Impunity. Impunity is the exercise of power without accountability, which becomes, in starkest form, the commission of crimes without punishment. In Ukraine this goes beyond the original invasion. It has included repeated violations of international humanitarian law, which is supposed to establish clear protections for civilians, aid workers and civilian infrastructure in conflict zones every day. The danger is that few people will ever face consequences for these crimes. It’s a start.
. In loving memory of my older brother Peter Pålsson (1955-2001) But in dreams, I can hear your name. And in dreams, We will meet again. When the seas and mountains fall And we come to end of days, In the dark I hear a call Calling me there I will go there And back […]