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The Stimulus Explained

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Comedy, Economy, Money, Ron Paul, Taxes

Although I agree with the stimulus, if for no other reason to start paying down people’s personal debt, I think this is pretty damn funny.
By the way, I think this represents Ron Paul’s official stance. :-)

May 16th, 2008 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

McCain Planning Climate Change Tour

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Economy, Energy, Environment, McCain

One bit of good “moderate” news that’s going to come out of the 2008 campaign, climate change is at the forefront of both agendas.
From The Examiner:
“John McCain is going to be doing more of these themed tours of America, and one of them is going to be on energy and global climate change. It could [...]

May 9th, 2008 | Permalink| 3 Comments »

Pelosi’s Idea of Stimulus is Not What We Need

By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in Congress, Economy

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has declared that we need another stimulus package. She was not forthcoming on the details but she made the statement alongside former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers who said the nation needs to focus on “increased unemployment insurance and food stamps and support for state and local governments.”
I think we [...]

May 6th, 2008 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

Cuba Gets Connected

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Cuba, Economy, Technology, Video

I wrote about Raul Castro’s decision to let Cubans own computers and cell phones, so this is more of an add on than anything.

Welcome to the 21st century Cuba! You’ve got a long way to go yet, and let’s hope that happens sooner rather than later.

May 6th, 2008 | Permalink| 3 Comments »

200+ Economists: Gas Tax Is A Bad Idea

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Economy, Gas, Hillary, McCain

And what’s really nice is they actually sang their statement in the round. I wish I had the audio because it was quite lovely.
From Bloomberg:
May 5 (Bloomberg) — More than 200 economists, including four Nobel prize winners, signed a petition rejecting proposals by presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain to offer a gas-tax holiday.
Columbia [...]

May 5th, 2008 | Permalink| 2 Comments »

Hillary Using Shell Oil Lobbyist To Push Gas Tax

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Economy, Energy, Gas, Hillary

Since she can’t find any economists who will agree with her, I guess a lobbyist will have to do.
From ABC News:
“There’s not an expert out there that believes that this is going to work. There’s not an editorial out there that has said this is actually the answer to high gas prices,” Obama said of [...]

May 4th, 2008 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

Hillary Spurns Economists On Gas Tax

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Economy, Energy, Gas, Hillary, Taxes

Robert Reich notes something Hillary said during her appearance on ABC’s This Week today…
When asked this morning by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos if she could name a single economist who backs her call for a gas tax holiday this summer, HRC said “I’m not going to put my lot in with economists.”
She’s not going [...]

May 4th, 2008 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

Economists Against Gas Tax

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Democrats, Economy, Hillary, McCain

Politico reports:
Brookings’ Henry Aaron sends over a statement (.pdf) signed today by 150 economists opposing the gas tax holiday.
They include Nobelists Joe Stiglitz, James Heckman and Daniel Kahneman, as well as a Clinton O.M.B. director, Alice Rivlin, and Robert Shapiro, the chief economic adviser to Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign.
Here’s the statement from the economists (linked [...]

May 3rd, 2008 | Permalink| 5 Comments »

Recession? Not Yet.

By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in Economy

Despite all the economic doom and gloom, we’re actually not in a recession. Turns out, the economy grew 0.6% last quarter. A recession is when the gross domestic product (GDP) goes into the red for two consecutive quarters.
Of course, 0.6% growth is only good news when you’re expecting negative growth. The economy’s growth in the [...]

April 30th, 2008 | Permalink| 8 Comments »

Buffett Says Recession Could Be Bad

By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in Economy

Warren Buffett knows a thing or two about money, so when he says we’re entering a bad recession, there’s reason to pay attention. Buffett said:
[M]y general feeling is that the recession will be longer and deeper than most people think. This will not be short and shallow. I think consumers are feeling gas and food [...]

April 28th, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

Yes, High Oil Prices Are Directly Related To Weak Dollar

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Bush, Economy, Energy, Money

This is one of those things that should be obvious, but it takes a guy from OPEC to state it outright that we can actually have a say in how much we pay for oil.
From NY Times:
ALGIERS (Reuters) - OPEC President Chakib Khelil does not rule out oil prices reaching $200 a barrel, even though [...]

April 28th, 2008 | Permalink| 3 Comments »

Will Stimulus Rebates be Eaten Up by Inflation?

By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in Economy

Starting next week, the stimulus package’s tax rebates will be going out. Most Americans will receive a sizable check. Thanks to some unusual government efficiency, the checks are actually going out earlier than expected. President Bush says this is a good thing because: “This money is going to help Americans offset the high prices we’re [...]

April 25th, 2008 | Permalink| 7 Comments »

McCain Plenty Aware of Economic Problems

By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in 2008 Election, Economy, McCain

You can criticize John McCain’s solutions for the economy, but you can’t claim he’s unaware of the problem. He’s not:
”Government has a role to play in helping people who, through no fault of their own, are having a hard time,” McCain, an Arizona senator, said. He defined that role as offering choices on education, health [...]

April 23rd, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

Gas Prices Keep Climbing

By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in Economy, Energy

With crude oil touching on $117 a barrel last Friday and retail gas prices in the U.S. now averaging a record $3.50 a gallon for regular unleaded, it’s looking more and more likely that gas prices will be a major campaign issue. It’s already voters’ second biggest worry after the economy. So what now?
Well, unfortunately, [...]

April 21st, 2008 | Permalink| 17 Comments »

Obama’s Economic Plan Would Punish Some Hardworking Americans

By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in Barack, Economy

Lawrence Kudlow, writing for Real Clear Politics, points out the problems in Barack Obama’s economic plan:
First off, you don’t raise taxes during a recession. That’s a no-brainer. Second, doubling the capital-gains tax rate will affect Americans up and down the income ladder, not just rich hedge-fund managers. In addition, capital-gains tax cuts are self-financing, and [...]

April 19th, 2008 | Permalink| 13 Comments »