Monday, April 30, 2012

I am watching the Milken Global Conference panel on tax reform, and I want to shout....

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...the reason fewer people are paying federal income taxes is that more people are making low incomes.
9 comments:
Sunday, April 29, 2012

Both George Will and Paul Krugman are right about the retirement/social insurance problem

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I watched the economic panel on This Week with George Stephanopolous this morning.  Toward the end, both Will and Krugman made salient poi...
8 comments:
Wednesday, April 25, 2012

The National Association of Realtors misrepresents how many people use the Mortgage Interest Deduction

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An NAR Spokesperson says : “NAR is actively engaged to ensure that the nation’s 75 million homeowners will continue to receive this im...
4 comments:
Sunday, April 22, 2012

Has the Variable Rate Mortgage saved the European Mortgage Market?

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Just as in the United States, many European countries have had large run-ups and crashes in house  prices. Consider the data from the Eu...
10 comments:
Saturday, April 21, 2012

Hannah Green on racial profiling - The Daily Northwestern - Northwestern University

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Green: Indian movie star’s detention shows profiling - The Daily Northwestern - Northwestern University
2 comments:
Monday, April 16, 2012

I like Romney's "secret" policy plan of the day.

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Cutting back tax deductions (and especially the deduction for second homes) for the affluent?  What a good idea!
8 comments:
Friday, April 13, 2012

Thomas Phillipon asks why financial services are so expensive (h/t Tim Noah)

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An abstract: Despite its fast computers and credit derivatives, the current financial system does not seem better at transferring funds fro...
3 comments:
Thursday, April 12, 2012

Mixed feelings about falling e-book prices

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Amazon's cutting of e-book prices is a good thing for consumers .  But... Here in Pasadena, there survive independent bricks and mort...
2 comments:
Tuesday, April 10, 2012

How apartment rents and vacancies can rise (or fall) simultaneously

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We at the Lusk Center put out the Casden Forecast for apartment economics in Southern California every spring.  When we put out our San Dieg...
10 comments:
Wednesday, April 04, 2012

When government is the solution

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Having spent the past month in a country where one always has to be careful about what one eats and drinks, I have a renewed appreciation of...
5 comments:
Thursday, March 29, 2012

Mr DeMarco, Would you consider a debt-equity swap?

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From Bloomberg : The U.S. government has spent $190 billion to shore up the companies since they were taken into federal conservatorship ...
10 comments:
Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Andrew Zimbalist on Frank McCourt's sale of the Dodgers

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From ESPN : "It's problematic," Zimbalist said. "He was looking for some kind of ongoing income stream and he got it. ...
4 comments:

A poignant moment from a poor country

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The laundry here "ruined" a couple of my shirts--whoever ironed tore the collars a bit from the bodies of the shirts. Being an Ame...
Tuesday, March 27, 2012

When liberals undermine liberalism

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I consider myself a liberal.  On social issues, I am very liberal; on economic issues, while in general I like markets, I think governments ...
Saturday, March 24, 2012

Mark Twain on Monetary Policy (h/t Patricia Harris)

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First published in 1879 as "Mark Twain as a Presidential Candidate." My financial views are of the most decided character, but...
Monday, March 19, 2012

New data since I posted yesterday

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From this morning's Economic Times ( one of India's leading newspapers). NEW DELHI: The number of India's poor fell to 29.8% o...
Sunday, March 18, 2012

What would Rawls say?

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Since India liberalized its economy in 1991 , PPP GDP per capita has increased from about 1400 in 1992 to about 3200 in 2009 (see Penn Wor...
6 comments:
Saturday, March 17, 2012

Rail transit and what is physically possible

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I have written posts in the past that reflect my admiration for John Kain's work in transportation economics.  He is known, among other ...
3 comments:
Wednesday, March 14, 2012

"Green Jobs" will be real, but invisible

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John Whitehead quotes Joe Romm : Last week economist William Nordhaus  slammed global warming deniers and explained that the cost of delayi...
1 comment:
Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Why owning a house may not be the American Dream

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Lots of societies outside of America seem to have a preference for home-ownership. I have spoken to policy makers and scholars in several co...
1 comment: