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Archive for November, 2017

Fed Chair Wakes Up, Notices National Debt


Thursday November 30th, 2017   •   Posted by Craig Eyermann at 6:19am PST   •   1 Comment

Perhaps for the first time in living memory, if not ever, the outgoing Chair of the Federal Reserve Janet Yellen expressed concern about the size of the U.S. national debt. CNBC‘s Jeff Cox has the story: With Congress wrestling over a tax reform plan that critics say would explode the government budget deficit, Federal…
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Cities Selling Themselves Out to Amazon


Wednesday November 29th, 2017   •   Posted by Craig Eyermann at 6:38am PST   •   0 Comments

Amazon made its reputation as the world’s largest online retailer by making it possible for anyone anywhere to buy consumer products. But has anybody considered what the company itself is capable of buying when it becomes the consumer? In September 2017, Amazon announced that it was seeking to establish a second headquarters in the…
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California Still Trashing Workers’ Rights


Tuesday November 28th, 2017   •   Posted by K. Lloyd Billingsley at 9:44am PST   •   0 Comments

The California Supreme Court has ruled that the state can impose a contract on employers, in the style of Don Corleone, a deal they can’t refuse. News stories hailed the unanimous ruling as a victory for “farmworkers” but it isn’t. The case deals with Gerawan Farming, a fruit grower in Fresno and Madera counties….
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Will Congress Preserve the Costly CFPB Swamp?


Monday November 27th, 2017   •   Posted by K. Lloyd Billingsley at 11:49am PST   •   0 Comments

President Trump has tapped Mick Mulvaney head of the Office of Management and Budget, to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a bad sign for a number of reasons. As we noted back in 2012 in Financial Crisis and Leviathan, the CFPB was created during the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, not…
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The Problem with America’s Debt in Three Paragraphs


Monday November 27th, 2017   •   Posted by Craig Eyermann at 6:58am PST   •   0 Comments

Gene Steuerle, a fellow at the Urban Institute who specializes in national debt and tax policy matters, was among 40 notable individuals asked to respond to the question “Has the world been fitted with a debt straightjacket?” by the publishers of The International Economy last spring. His response provided the following gem that summarizes…
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Illinois and Connecticut’s Unending Fiscal Crises


Friday November 24th, 2017   •   Posted by Craig Eyermann at 5:59am PST   •   0 Comments

Among U.S. states, Connecticut competes with Illinois for the title of being the most fiscally distressed as a result of the policies its politicians have implemented over the years, where the two states frequently trade off between each other for being in the worst shape. This fall, both states showed some progress toward resolving…
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A Manson Meditation


Tuesday November 21st, 2017   •   Posted by K. Lloyd Billingsley at 11:00am PST   •   0 Comments

Charles Manson has died of natural causes at the age of 83, and those unfamiliar with the fellow should read Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders, by Vincent Bugliosi. In Los Angeles in 1969, Manson plotted a series of savage killings that were not entirely random. By having his followers scrawl…
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The Cost of Congress’ Cover-Up Culture


Tuesday November 21st, 2017   •   Posted by Craig Eyermann at 5:49am PST   •   0 Comments

Since 1995, the U.S. Congress has given the most badly behaving of its members and its employees an unusual, secret taxpayer-funded perk. Writing at The Hill, Jennie Beth Martin explains how a law, the Congressional Accountability Act (CAA), that was meant to compel members of the U.S. Congress to live under the terms of…
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Venezuela Defaults on Its National Debt


Thursday November 16th, 2017   •   Posted by Craig Eyermann at 6:25am PST   •   0 Comments

Two days ago, the news recently broke that the nation of Venezuela officially defaulted on its debt. Writing at Forbes, Frances Coppola reports on the straw that broke the camel’s back for what had been one of the richest nations in South America. Venezuela has defaulted on two of its US dollar-denominated sovereign bond…
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U.S. Postal Service Extends Losing Streak to Eleven Years


Wednesday November 15th, 2017   •   Posted by K. Lloyd Billingsley at 12:46pm PST   •   2 Comments

The United States Postal Service is reporting losses of $2.7 billion for the past fiscal year, USA Today reports, less than the $5.6 billion from the previous year but still the eleventh straight year the USPS has been a loser for taxpayers. Increases in package delivery failed to offset the drop in regular mail,…
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