MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'finance'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:48:22 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181756&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FU3o8oryzFoM%2F By Steve H. HankeWhen the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and the New York Times agree on the merits of a policy, readers will understandably be confused. At the annual rendezvous of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming this past weekend, the IMF’s new managing director Christine Lagarde asserted that Europe’s banks should be recapitalized.  This, she claimed, would make the banks “safer” and improve the chances for European growth. On August 29th, I wrote that Ms. Lagarde had misdiagnosed Europe’s banking problems and is confused.  Indeed, her prescription would be deflationary and put more stress on Europe’s fragile economies. On August 30th, I criticized the Wall Street Journal’s editorial which praised Ms. Lagarde’s recapit... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181756 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 20:51:40 +0100 5181756 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181764&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FVpQSml_FhuQ%2F By Mark A. CalabriaI spend a lot of time pointing out government gone wrong.  Sadly it doesn’t take that much effort.  But occasionally you come across someone actually doing their job and trying to protect the taxpayer.  As illustrated in today’s Wall Street Journal, Edward DeMarco, the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae,  is such a person. Mr. DeMarco has continued to push back against repeated plans by the Obama Administration to use Fannie and Freddie as off-budget slush-funds (they seem to have forgotten such was one of the reasons we are in our current economic mess). As I explained yesterday, by pushing back DeMarco is simply carrying out the law as it was both written and intended.  It is pa... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181764 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:56:37 +0100 5181764 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181767&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fu21IeDZ7E4I%2F By Steve H. HankeYesterday, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial endorsed IMF managing director Christine Lagarde’s call to recapitalize Europe’s banks.  Today, the Financial Times’ leader, “Ugly truths from a bold Lagarde” showers Ms. Lagarde’s proposal with praise. The F.T. speculates that “Perhaps Ms. Lagarde has seen the light with new advisers.”  There is evidence to suggest that this conjecture is not true.  In July 2011, when the IMF filed its Article IV consultation report on Mexico, the IMF made clear that increasing banks’ capital-asset ratios would act as a drag on Mexico’s money supply and economic growth.  In consequence, the IMF counseled Mexico to call a “time out” on increasing banks’ cap... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181767 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:48:13 +0100 5181767 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181769&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FO8JYkfthuh4%2F By Steve H. HankeOn August 29th, I penned “Lagarde Confused, Again.” In it, I argued that Christine Lagarde, the new managing director of the International Monetary Fund, misdiagnosed Europe’s banking crisis. Ms. Lagarde’s assertion that Europe’s banks “need urgent recapitalization” is based on faulty economics. While the higher capital-asset ratios that Ms. Lagarde extols are intended to strengthen banks (and economies), higher ratios destroy money and are “deflationary.” This is not what a struggling Europe needs. Indeed, higher capital-asset ratios imposed on Europe’s banks at this juncture would virtually ensure that Euroland would take another dive. In consequence, some of the banks that were made “safer” by Ms. L... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181769 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 20:45:32 +0100 5181769 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5174594&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FKTSYkgJ3EdA%2F By Steve H. HankeChristine Lagarde, the new managing director of the International Monetary Fund and former French finance minister, is confused, again.  In her speech before the central bankers assembled in Jackson Hole, Wyoming this weekend, Ms. Lagarde asserted that the way forward for Europe was to recapitalize Europe’s “weak” banks.  This, she claimed, would cut the “chains of contagion” and promote growth. Nothing could be further from the truth.  Even the IMF, in its July 2011 Article IV consultations with Mexico, realized that mandating higher capital-asset ratios (recapitalization) for banks, would take some steam out of Mexico’s money supply growth and jeopardize Mexico’s economic recovery. It is rather easy to see why higher capital-... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5174594 Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:21:06 +0100 5174594 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5174598&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FTCcIdXMaIRQ%2F By Mark A. CalabriaI’ve already mentioned how the rumored Obama plan to re-finance existing underwater Fannie/Freddie loans with new mortgages at as low as 4 percent would not actually do much, if anything, positive for the economy.  Even worse is that such a plan would likely require a massive infusion of taxpayer dollars into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. First let us start with some basics about the Fannie Mae business.  According to Fannie’s most recent 10-Q (see page 28), Fannie’s current interest-earning assets, mostly mortgages, yield the company 4.59%.  However, Fannie has to fund those assets.  The cost of Fannie’s total current interest-bearing funding is 3.99%, leaving the company a spread of 60 basis points to cover its non-interest expenses.  What ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5174598 Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:47:13 +0100 5174598 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5169527&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FiJw-R41i5MA%2F By Daniel J. MitchellI’ve commented on the failure of Obamanomics, with special focus on how both banks and corporations are sitting on money because the investment climate is so grim. Not exactly flattering to the White House. Using Minneapolis Federal Reserve data, I’ve compared the current recovery with the expansion of the early 1980s. Once again, not good news for the Obama administration. And I’ve shared a couple of cartoons — here and here — that use humor to show the impact of bad public policy. But here’s a Bloomberg story that provides what may be the most damning evidence that the President’s big government agenda is a failure: U.S. regulators have asked some banks to take more deposits from large investors even if it’s unprofitable, and ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5169527 Fri, 26 Aug 2011 17:09:27 +0100 5169527 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158937&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F-_i5gdxQvno%2F By Mark A. CalabriaThe New York Times has gotten Washington all worked up with the suggestion that we can turn around both the economy and the housing market if only Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac gave all underwater borrowers an automatic reduction in their interest rate.  The thinking, as illustrated by that world class economist Matt Yglesais, is  “with a lower monthly interest payment, an indebted household can pay down other debts more rapidly. A less-constrained household will increase its consumption of goods and services.”    What this misses is that a mortgage is one person’s liability, but another person’s asset.  By replacing a mortgage that yields 6% with a mortgage that yields, say, 4%, you decrease the value of that mortgage (or mortgage-backed secur... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158937 Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:47:56 +0100 5158937 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158944&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FhAxISFCLJSk%2F By Mark A. CalabriaI suspect not everyone looks forward to the latest issue of the Journal of Finance to the same extent I do. After all, most of the articles are fairly technical and generally lack a direct connection to public policy (my primary interest). The August issue, however, was a real exception, having a number of articles on issues related to the financial crisis. More importantly was a paper by Robert Novy-Marx and Joshua Rauh. The paper provides estimates for the unfunded liabilities inherent in our state public employee pension system.    Under fairly reasonable assumptions, the authors calculate that the net present value of unfunded liabilities is between $3.2 and $4.4 trillion. While that might seem small compared to the unfunded liabilities inherent in Medicare and ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158944 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:23:49 +0100 5158944 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159319&cid=t_95523_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2Ffive-rights-staffing-maximizing-clinical-and-financial-benefits-acuity-system Hospitals and health systems often purchase acuity systems as a valuable tool to allocate nursing resources based on patient care needs. However, these organizations don’t always use their acuity systems to their full capability. In many cases, at least one of what we call “the five rights of staffing” is absent. According to “the five rights of staffing,” an acuity system should give hospitals: 1)    the right number of staff 2)    with the right skills read more (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159319 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 12:39:23 +0100 5159319 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158857&cid=t_95523_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F23%2Fhow-to-guide-improving-transitions-from-the-hospital-to-post-acute-care-settings-to-reduce-avoidable-rehospitalizations%2F Scan or click to download 'How-to Guide Improving Transitions from the Hospital to Post-Acute Care Settings to Reduce Avoidable Rehospitalizations' Title: How-to Guide Improving Transitions from the Hospital to Post-Acute Care Settings to Reduce Avoidable Rehospitalizations The Skinny: Guide from Institute for Health Improvement on avoiding avoidable rehospitalisations as a result of poor co-ordination of care settings. Avoiding this is a key step toward achieving broader delivery system transformation. Based on the healthcare system of the USA this guide is of use to those looking at intermediate care/rehabilitation settings. Publisher: Institute for Health Improvement Published: August 2011 Size: 144p. Filed under: Ooops Missed Category! Tagged: Clinical Governance, finance, Gr... Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158857 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 08:27:37 +0100 5158857 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158858&cid=t_95523_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F23%2Fhow-to-guide-improving-transitions-from-the-hospital-to-home-health-care-to-reduce-avoidable-rehospitalizations%2F Scan or click to download 'How-to Guide: Improving Transitions from the Hospital to Home Health Care to Reduce Avoidable Rehospitalizations' Title: How-to Guide: Improving Transitions from the Hospital to Home Health Care to Reduce Avoidable Rehospitalizations The Skinny: Guide from Institute for Health Improvement on avoiding avoidable rehospitalisations as a result of poor co-ordination of care settings. Avoiding this is a key step toward achieving broader delivery system transformation. Based on the healthcare system of the USA this guide is of use to those looking to aviod rehospitalisation on return to the community detailing initial steps to create an enhanced transition to home health care in the first 48 hours after the patient is discharged from the hospital, a post-acut... Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158858 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 07:59:04 +0100 5158858 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139619&cid=t_95523_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F19%2F15321%2F Title: Access to Work and Driver Support  Scan or click to download ‘Access to Work and Driver Support’ The Skinny: Report from ecdp which notes a recent change to Access to Work guidance means that people who receive ‘driver support’ from their Personal Assistant can no longer receive that support if the PA is using their own car. This leaves Access to Work users with the following options in order to maintain their employment arrangements: To insure their PA to drive the Access to Work user’s own car (if they have one) Have their PA insured on a company car provided by the Access to Work user’s employer Use a taxi. This change has been reflected in guidance issued to Access to Work advisers, and has already started to take effect for people who receive Access to... Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139619 Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:38:49 +0100 5139619 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139625&cid=t_95523_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F18%2Fnhs-financial-year-201011-a-summary-of-auditors-work%2F Title: NHS Financial Year 2010/11: A summary of auditors’ work Scan or click to download ‘NHS Financial Year 2010/11: A summary of auditors’ work’ The Skinny: Provides a view of the overall financial performance of the NHS in 2010/11. Summarises the audit of the 2010/11 accounts for strategic health authorities (SHAs), NHS trusts and PCTs, and looks at auditors’ conclusion on the value for money (VFM) arrangements in place in each organisation. It also reviews the progress made by PCTs and NHS trusts in delivering their cost improvement programmes (CIPs). For 2010/11 the auditors focussed their review on whether: the organisation has proper arrangements in place for securing financial resilience; and the organisation has proper arrangements for challenging... Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139625 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:40:15 +0100 5139625 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139627&cid=t_95523_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F17%2Flocal-square-table-learning-and-evaluation-report%2F Title: Local square table learning and evaluation report Scan or click to download 'Local square table learning and evaluation report' The Skinny: Reports on the findings of open and honest discussion and increased understanding between those who provide children’s palliative care, those who experience it and those that play a wider part in supporting children, young people and families in a particular community. Finds that: Awareness and language is seen as a barrier to service access Parents say they struggle with the current assessment process Partnership working is seen as key to ensuring the best outcomes for lifelimited and life-threatened children and young people Workforce training and development is considered a priority by parents and professionals Parents f... Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139627 Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:43:14 +0100 5139627 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139636&cid=t_95523_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F17%2Fa-simple-guide-to-payment-by-results-july-2011-version%2F Title: A simple guide to Payment by Results, July 2011 version Scan or click to download 'A simple guide to Payment by Results, July 2011 version' The Skinny: The aim of this updated guide is to provide an introduction for newcomers to Payment by Results. Publisher: DH Published: 01/08/11 Size: 68p. Filed under: Ooops Missed Category! Tagged: finance, Grey Literature, Health service finance, Payment by Results (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139636 Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:20:28 +0100 5139636 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139703&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FIHjvbW8In5A%2F By Mark A. CalabriaThe Washington Post is reporting that President Obama has assigned his staff with the task of designing a new set of government guarantees behind the U.S. mortgage market. Although as the Post also reports the “approach could even preserve Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.” That’s correct. Despite their role in driving the housing bubble and the already $160 billion in taxpayer losses, President Obama appears to be considering just putting the same failed system in place. Of course, we’ll be promised that it will all work better this time. Perhaps most offensive is that the Post reports that Obama “officials don’t want to punish the thousands of Fannie and Freddie employees who have specialized knowledge about the mortgage market.” Serious... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139703 Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:04:20 +0100 5139703 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5125715&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F_1II2_9D5Tg%2F By David BoazThe New York Times editorializes that the Federal Reserve should be “more aggressive” in pumping more money into the slow economy. A couple of weeks ago the Times was breathlessly hyping the mythical fear of “default” if the debt ceiling wasn’t promptly raised. With that problem out of the way, the paper now quietly recommends a slow default on the national debt: A more aggressive strategy would be letting inflation rise above the Fed’s comfort level of 2 percent or so to, say, 4 percent. That could help the economy by easing the repayment of debt. “Easing the repayment of debt”: that is, paying your creditors less in real terms than they had expected. That’s a slow-mo default. And it’s the path that Scott Beaulier and Pe... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5125715 Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:39:41 +0100 5125715 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5125719&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FN7EN95OQlFI%2F By Daniel J. MitchellAllen Meltzer, an economist at Carnegie Mellon University, writes today in the Wall Street Journal about the Fed’s worrisome announcement that it will continue the easy-money policy of artificially low interest rates. Professor Meltzer’s key point (at least to me) is that the economy is weak because of too much government intervention and too much federal spending, and you don’t solve those problems with a loose-money policy – especially since banks already are sitting on $1.6 trillion of excess reserves. (Why lend money when the economy is weak and you may not get repaid?) Meltzer then outlines some of the reforms that would boost growth, all of which are desirable, albeit a bit tame for my tastes: [T]he United States does not have the kind of problems that pr... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5125719 Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:14:25 +0100 5125719 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5125720&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPNFMyAbivyw%2F By Mark A. CalabriaIt’s a little too early to really tell what is going on here, but it certainly looks suspicious to me that a week after the rating agency Standard &Poor’s downgraded the U.S. government, we now have the Securities and Exchange Commission starting an insider-trading investigation of who inside S&P worked on the downgrade.  This comes on top of an announced Senate probe into S&P’s decision. I’ve long argued for reducing the role and influence of the rating agencies when it comes to financial regulation.  One of the few things the Dodd-Frank Act got correct was pushing for a reduction in regulators’ reliance on the rating agencies.  But still, it is nothing short of hypocritical for the same parties who complained that the agenci... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5125720 Fri, 12 Aug 2011 14:53:37 +0100 5125720 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118573&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fnow-mainstream-notion-profit-seeking.html We have been writing - some might say wailing Cassandra-like - about health care dysfunction since I published about it in the European Journal of Internal Medicine in 2003.(1) However, while our dismal warnings were inspired by fears of  health care professionals who saw bad things happening in their local health care environments, the notion that things were really bad in health care really did not get a lot of traction. After all, we were in the second decade of a prolonged economic "great moderation," the good times were rolling, so who was really worried by a few whiners and complainers in health care?However, after the fall of Lehman Brothers ushered in the global financial collapse, or great recession, this complacency was disturbed, and it began to appear that our pr... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118573 Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:17:00 +0100 5118573 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107487&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FMeqx98JbX5Q%2F By Caleb O. BrownCato Senior Fellow Jagadeesh Gokhale argues today that S&P has left little doubt that credit rating agencies’ credibility has suffered because of the recent downgrade of U.S. Treasuries. He argues that the response from the President leaves much to be desired. On the tax increases proposed by the President today to cover entitlement spending, he says It’s basically impossible to tax our way out of this commitment. If we try to impose huge taxes on the backs of workers and younger generations, we will destroy the incentives to work and destroy the incentives to people who can provide capital to provide it in the U.S. They would take that capital and migrate to other shores. In other words, the taxes required to pay for past promises are uncollectible. Listen... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107487 Mon, 08 Aug 2011 20:45:02 +0100 5107487 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107489&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F5kOy3w40Zrc%2F By Alan ReynoldsThe infamous $2 trillion error involved in the Standard and Poor’s downgrade was no mistake.  It was largely the result of an unseemly urge to take sides in the partisan struggle over near-term tax policy, with no weight at all given to longer-term entitlement spending. “Our ratings,” the agency later explained, “are determined primarily using a 3-5 year time horizon,” and “the ratings decision to lower the long-term rating to AA+ from AAA was not affected by the change of assumptions regarding the pace of discretionary spending growth.”  In other words, it’s all about taxes. Amazingly, the S&P analysts adopted the Congressional Budget Office “alternative” scenario as their so-called baseline.  In that scenario all Bush tax cuts remain in pla... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107489 Mon, 08 Aug 2011 19:34:54 +0100 5107489 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107490&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FsIIy7QIG65A%2F By Daniel J. MitchellPresident Obama just spoke about the downgrade and his remarks were very disappointing. He uttered some empty platitudes, offered no plan, (amazingly) called for more government spending, and continued his advocacy of class-warfare taxation. So what does this mean? Other than expecting volatility, I have no idea what will happen in financial markets over the next few days. But I can opine about the downgrade, Obama’s unserious response, and what it means in terms of public policy over the next few years and into the future. Notwithstanding the President’s cavalier attitude, America is in trouble. But while the crisis is severe, we have some breathing room. Our fiscal crisis is akin to a very dangerous, but slow-developing cancer. It is not a car wreck with ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107490 Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:59:48 +0100 5107490 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107492&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FKTBMGBPk7xM%2F By Daniel J. MitchellEven though I predicted it had to happen at some point because of the Bush-Obama spending binge and America’s giant long-run entitlement crisis, I confess that I’m somewhat surprised that the United States has suffered a debt downgrade for the first time. That being said, I don’t think the downgrade will matter. Everyone knew the U.S. was heading in the wrong direction before the announcement by Standard & Poor. Moreover, big investors have very few attractive options for where to place their money – thanks to a weak global economy. As such, I suspect the federal government will still be able to borrow money at very low rates. What does matter, however, is that the American economy is burdened with a bloated public sector that is sapping the nation’s econ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107492 Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:12:13 +0100 5107492 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107972&cid=t_95523_180_f&fid=38612&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpickthebrain%2FLYVv%2F%7E3%2FfdZ6KzcUKNQ%2F When I consider the word wealthy I want to go far beyond the limited definition that relates purely to accumulation and comfort. Wealth to me has a far much broader meaning that also includes the richness of friends, family, as well as opportunities. So with that understanding let’s explore 21 of the finest attributes of the wealthy. 1. They Love What They Do To be able to wake up each morning with a skip in your step. With a mind bursting with new and fresh ideas and clear plans, laid out the day before for the day ahead, is a joy. I have made it my personal pursuit throughout the years to align my work with my passion. Every day I breathe I now do what I love to do, and it has made the journey extremely worthwhile. 2. They Perform With A Touch Of Class If you’re going to do a job the... PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107972 Mon, 08 Aug 2011 08:14:07 +0100 5107972 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096463&cid=t_95523_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2Fsharpening-your-job-hunting-skills Searching for a new job is almost a full-time job in itself. There are thousands of job boards to choose from and then there are the profiles you have on professional networking sites that need to be updated (LinkedIn, Plaxo, etc…). This is just the beginning. If you sign up for all of these resources, they need cultivation and frequent maintenance (plus, you need to remember the user names and passwords for them all).  read more (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096463 Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:32:03 +0100 5096463 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5077658&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FpP3IYK-CIMs%2F By Mark A. CalabriaPreviously I’ve offered suggested readings for understanding the financial crisis.  Part II focused on “popular” works.  What follows is my list of suggested books, written mostly by academics, that give a more scholarly analysis of the crisis.  Also see my Part I.  They are, by definition, less accessible than the popular works, but they do generally offer consistent frameworks for understanding the crisis and rely more on explaining underlying forces, rather than focus on individuals.  All of these are also written for general audiences.  Again this is a highly selective list based upon the writings I’ve found insightful. 1. Getting Off Track, by John Taylor. (4 stars) Short and focused on role of monetary policy in driving housing bubble... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5077658 Fri, 29 Jul 2011 01:24:37 +0100 5077658 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5077662&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FOErsIXsuuXQ%2F By Neal McCluskeyA couple of days ago I blasted President Obama for, in repugnant tradition, using “education” as a political weapon, invoking it to scare Americans into demanding increased taxes for “the rich.” House Speaker John Boehner, thankfully, did not abuse education similarly in his rebuttal. But his proposal for raising the debt ceiling illustrates just how weak the GOP’s commitment is to returning the federal government to its constitutional — and affordable — size. And I say this not because of the relative puniness of his proposed cuts, but what the proposal would do in education, the only area it specifically targets: increase funding for Pell Grants. Now, I know what many people will say to this: Pell is a de facto ent... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5077662 Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:46:25 +0100 5077662 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5069447&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FtqQe3o3ngFU%2F By Chris EdwardsI testified to the Senate Finance Committee today regarding federal spending and debt. Here are some of the points I made: Last night, President Obama called for a “balanced solution” to our fiscal problems, including tax increases and spending cuts. However, CBO projections do not indicate that we face a “balanced” problem. Instead, projections show that the deficit problem is caused all on the spending side of the budget. The United States has sadly become a big-government country. Until recently, government spending in this country was about 10 percentage points less than the average of OECD countries. That smaller-government advantage has now shrunken to just 4 percentage points. In recent years, policymakers have given us the largest deficit... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5069447 Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:05:25 +0100 5069447 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062221&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FKxQymlbHfrs%2F Last week I offered my suggestion on the one book you should read, if you really want to understand the financial crisis. In this Part II, I offer a list of popular books, mostly written by journalists, along with very brief thoughts.  Part III, to come, will focus on more “scholarly” books. As general rule, these popular books lack a theoretical framework of the crisis. They often have the feel of a “bad people did bad things” narrative. These are only books I’ve actually read (and remember), so its a selective list. Some are insider stories of only a single firm, and hence, somewhat limited in their usefulness. I will also give little evidence behind my judgments, so if you don’t value my opinion, stop reading now.  1. All the Devils Are Here... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062221 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 19:34:33 +0100 5062221 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062223&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F0lOqIPCKq-k%2F The New Republic has an interesting article explaining “How Campaign Finance Laws Made the British Press so Powerful.” Basically, only British newspapers are free of regulations that suppress political speech. The author suggests adding more controls (including content restrictions) on the British newspapers to enforce “impartial” coverage. In other words, the media should be just as repressed as everyone else, and political leaders should be free of criticism. Like many others, I have long thought that U.S. newspapers editorialize in favor of campaign finance restrictions to control competing speech and thereby become more powerful. After Citizens United, other organizations now enjoy the same First Amendment protections as media corporations like The New York Time... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062223 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:23:23 +0100 5062223 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062226&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FFGsoGrS2IEA%2F I’ve argued that the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill does not end “too-big-to-fail”, that is the belief that certain companies are implicitly backed by the government because policy-makers are unlikely to let said institutions actually fail. By naming some companies as ”systemically important” — as required by Dodd-Frank — the government is actually sending a signal as to who is likely to be bailed out. As evidenced by regulators’ behavior during the financial crisis, the prime beneficiaries would be the creditors of these companies, as even when shareholders and management suffered, creditors generally did not. This should allow such firms to borrow at a cost lower than firms not deemed systemically important. Given this funding... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062226 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:53:37 +0100 5062226 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062228&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F_DLOOm8e3pY%2F Lost in all the concerns over how Moody’s and S&P will view any deal to raise the debt ceiling and whether such a deal addresses our country’s long term budget imbalances is the fact that at least three rating agencies have already downgraded U.S. government debt.  One of these agencies, Weiss Ratings, treats U.S. government debt as barely better than “junk” or speculative grade. It would be easy to dismiss these agencies as irrelevant and attempting to simply grab attention, but at least one of these agencies, Egan-Jones, has a track record of correctly predicting problems at such companies as Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers that the major rating agencies missed until it was too late.  Egan-Jones also employs a business mode... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062228 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:49:04 +0100 5062228 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5057715&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FlXYcBJQ_gTI%2F One commonly heard refrain is that the deregulation of banking caused the financial crisis.  To those of us that have actually spent years working on banking policy, such a claim is met with surprise.  What banking deregulation?  The usual response, with generally an absolute lack of detail or argument, is the repeal of Glass-Steagall by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB).  When the proponents of this claim bother to offer any explanation (in some circles simply invoking the name “Phil Gramm” substitutes for any analysis), it usually goes like this: With Glass-Steagall dead and gone, financial institutions were now free to grow large. That’s taken from the recent book Reckless Endangerment.  What it misses that is that Glass-Steagall placed zero constraints on th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5057715 Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:45:56 +0100 5057715 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5050532&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FR2RynRhlT88%2F When I turned to today’s Wall Street Journal editoral page, I thought it had been replaced by the Onion, for here was Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner offering a version of history that bears little resemblence to the truth.  But then again this is the same guy who claimed he’d never been a bank regulator despite having been President of the NY Federal Reserve (before and during the crisis). Maybe the most humorous lines:   “The president made two key decisions…second, he asked us to write draft legislation rather than propose broad principles. The president did not want the new rules to end up being written by those who brought us to the edge of catastrophic financial failure.”  Then why in the world was Mr. Geithner included in the writing of the bill. ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5050532 Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:09:51 +0100 5050532 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5050538&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FGYJccU4NxN4%2F I really couldn’t find anything in John Tamny’s fairly critical review of Reckless Endangerment by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner to disagree with, but still I liked the book.  That may be because I spent most of the last decade as a staffer on the Senate Banking Committee, and I know that Josh was one of the few raising the early alarm bells about Fannie, Freddie (and FHA). But I’ve also come to conclude that I liked the book because pretty much everything I’ve read on the financial crisis, regardless of who wrote it, has some pretty big flaws.  So now I have a pretty low bar for what’s acceptable.  While Reckless Endangerment has lots of flaws too, it has fewer than the typical book on the crisis. Anyway, in thinking about the many books out there,... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5050538 Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:36:33 +0100 5050538 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5036622&cid=t_95523_180_f&fid=38612&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpickthebrain%2FLYVv%2F%7E3%2FzbD5awJHLE0%2F If you’re wondering how you are supposed to save for a distant retirement when you’re struggling to pay off debt and make ends meet right now, you’re not alone. I think financial planning has failed a lot of people. The promise that if you work hard, save 10% of your income, invest in your 401(k), have a diversified investment allocation, and have an emergency fund everything will be fine has left a lot of people frustrated, discouraged, and even a little angry. Early on in my career I did a financial plan for a client. I told him that all he had to do was to cut his cable bill, stop going on vacations, eliminate eating out, and bring a sack lunch to work every day, and that he may have enough to retire in 40 years. I said this with a straight face. He looked at me like I... PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5036622 Sun, 17 Jul 2011 07:02:04 +0100 5036622 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5036311&cid=t_95523_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2FiOwGujYEzao%2F Remember back in February when I cut my face open at the HIMSS conference and needed medical assistance while 1,000 miles from home? I blogged then about how I used Google Maps to find an urgent care clinic close to the convention center instead of riding to a hospital emergency room in an ambulance? I’m guessing that course of action saved me at least $1,500, money that would have come out of my pocket because, as a self-employed individual, I was only able to qualify for an afford an insurance policy with a high deductible. Though most Americans still aren’t engaged as consumers when they seek healthcare services, there are tens of millions of uninsured people and a smaller number of people like me with high-deductible plans that would face the same conundrum when they have a... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5036311 Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:05:14 +0100 5036311 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028138&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FyZZPNvIJeBs%2F By Mark A. CalabriaIt’s probably never wise to inject oneself into the middle of a food fight, but since I think both sides actually have something right and something wrong, its been a worthwhile debate to follow.  That is the ongoing debate between Peter Wallison at the American Enterprise Institute and David Min at the Center for American Progress (at least we can all agree we love America) on the role of Fannie Mae (and Freddie Mae) in the financial crisis.  If you can’t guess, Peter says Fannie/Freddie caused the crisis, David says they didn’t. David makes an interesting point, one I’ve actually argued, in his latest retort.  That is, this wasn’t exclusively a housing crisis/bubble.  Other sectors, like commercial real estate, boomed and then went bus... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028138 Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:40:43 +0100 5028138 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028147&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F4231jWwU4m0%2F By Mark A. CalabriaWith the one-year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act approaching, it seems a reasonable time to ask if the Act achieved one of its primary stated goals:  ending the too-big-to-fail status of our largest banks.  After all, we are beyond the financial panic and the Act has had a year to work. Now one could simply ask, what does the law say?  Well, to give its proponents some due, Dodd-Frank does suggest in a few sections that large banks, or other companies, will not be rescued.  But then previous laws also said that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac wouldn’t be rescued either.  So much for the letter of the law.  And of course there are various holes in Dodd-Frank that do allow bondholders to be rescued.   Section 204 is very clear that the FDIC can buy the outsta... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028147 Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:33:19 +0100 5028147 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028158&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F1bQcSKcql2Y%2F By Walter OlsonThe New York Times has an article today on the plight of Central Falls, Rhode Island, a 19,000-population industrial city that may declare bankruptcy under the fiscal weight of $80 million in pension obligations for police and fire officers. Unlike some coverage of municipal fiscal woes, this one does not dance around the way some of the problem originates in misguided labor policy: The city, just north of Providence, is small and poor, but over the years it has promised police officers and firefighters retirement benefits like those offered in big, rich states like California and New York. These uniformed workers can retire after just 20 years of service, receive free health care in retirement, and qualify for full disability pensions when only partly disabled. “Promi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028158 Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:27:20 +0100 5028158 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028159&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FrISi8iwgfnw%2F By Mark A. CalabriaThe House of Representatives is scheduled this week, as early as today, to consider an extension and “reform” of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), administered by FEMA. Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the NFIP has been about $18 billion in the hole. And this is from a program that only collects around $2 billion a year in premiums, which barely covers losses and expenses in a normal year. So make no mistake, the NFIP is still on course to cost the taxpayer billions more in the future. Even before Katrina, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the NFIP was receiving a subsidy of close to a billion dollars a year. Under CBO’s optimistic projections, the House’s reform bill would increase NFIP revenues by about $4 billion over th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028159 Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:21:28 +0100 5028159 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008136&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FCw0aYNlrScs%2F By Mark A. CalabriaIn the fall of 2008 a considerable amount of ink was spilt arguing that we needed to save the then big-five investment banks, or else our financial markets would come to a halt.  One could easily get the impression from the debate that these five firms were the entire industry.  At the time these five included Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Lehman and Bear Stearns.  Before we go around rescuing companies, it would seem reasonable to ask if the rest of the industry could pick up their capacity.  Of course, if there is no “rest of the industry” then that question is easily answered. So what exactly did the investment banking industry look like in 2008?  The best source of public information we have is the 2007 Economic Census, conducted by the U.... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008136 Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:54:38 +0100 5008136 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008155&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FZM20phiwWic%2F By Daniel J. MitchellI’m not a big fan of the rating agencies. I’ve warned in TV interviews that they generally wait too long before downgrading profligate governments. So when the rating agencies finally catch up to everyone else and lower their outlook for failing welfare states such as Greece and Portugal, one would think that this would be seen as a useful – albeit late – warning sign. But European politicians are not very happy about this development. At the risk of mixing metaphors, they want everyone to keep their heads buried in the sand and to continue complimenting the emperor on his new clothes. Here are some excerpts from a BBC report. The European Commission has strongly criticised international credit ratings agencies following the downgrade of Portugal by Moody�... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008155 Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:29:15 +0100 5008155 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4992653&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FH3Clc-AJ5EU%2F By John SamplesCampaign finance regulation met celebrity culture for one morning this week. I was not completely bemused. Stephen Colbert and the FEC is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4992653 Fri, 01 Jul 2011 19:54:48 +0100 4992653 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4992654&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F2f2OvaNvszk%2F By David BoazOur friend Alberto Mingardi of the Bruno Leoni Institute in Italy writes about the Greek crisis: In a way, the most surprising element of the Greek disaster is that taxpayers in other European countries aren’t outraged at being called to rescue an economy that has been marching towards disaster for so long. The legitimate fear of contagion affecting other European countries is now being used to persuade the electorates outside Greece that: first, Greece has not manufactured its own fate, but is rather the victim of “locust-like” speculators and, second, a Greek bailout would be an indictment of the European social model, that is, the welfare state. Where European public opinion is collapsing under its contradictions is in the attempt to reconcile the idea of the EU as th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4992654 Fri, 01 Jul 2011 19:53:28 +0100 4992654 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4992789&cid=t_95523_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2FEm4rJk2IfV0%2F Every time I hear a story about consumer empowerment in healthcare, I get optimistic that consumers really can make a difference in containing runaway healthcare costs. Then something comes along to make me think that it’s a pipe dream. I just had one such occurrence. Trending on Twitter right now is the meme “#pricesthatshockyou.” Just for fun, I clicked. Right near the top I saw this: #bbpBox_86598503140294656 a { text-decoration:none; color:#009e9e; }#bbpBox_86598503140294656 a:hover { text-decoration:underline; }Honestly, i don't know why the american gov't makes the people pay so much for medical bills. Its not always their fault #pricesthatshockyouabout 1 hour ago via webReplyRetweetFavorite@jadedheartsxoDαnαit Uh, the American government doesn’t set... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4992789 Fri, 01 Jul 2011 02:12:19 +0100 4992789 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975825&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fs2-Usb210eI%2F By Sallie JamesSen. Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee,  Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and the White House have just announced that they have made a deal to extend Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA, the program that extends extra unemployment and health care benefits to workers who lose their jobs because of globalization) until 2013, as part of a broader deal that would see passage of the three outstanding preferential trade agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama. The extension of TAA would be included in the legislation to implement the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement, “improved” (i.e., made less liberalizing) by the administration in December. Interestingly and alarmingly, because implementing the FTAs... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975825 Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:17:38 +0100 4975825 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975830&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F5wSlBN3174w%2F By Daniel J. MitchellIt appears that American taxpayers are about to subsidize another Greek bailout (via the Keystone Cops at the IMF). This is way beyond economically foolish. It is also morally offensive. To turn Winston Churchill’s famous quote upside down, “Never have so many paid so much to subsidize such an undeserving few.” Let’s start with a few facts: Greece’s GDP is roughly equal to the GDP of Maryland. Greece’s population is roughly equal to the population of Ohio. Despite that small size, in both terms of population and economic output, Greece already has received a bailout of about $150 billion (actual amount fluctuates with the exchange rate). Don’t forget the indirect bailout resulting from purchases of Greek government bonds by the European Central Bank. No... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975830 Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:11:00 +0100 4975830 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975993&cid=t_95523_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2Fgoogle-health-too-early-market Few are surprised by this NY Times headline – Google to End Health Records Service After It Fails to Attract Users. Rumors and expectations of this announcement have been in the market for several months now. Reality has struck. Google Health evaporates. read more (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975993 Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:29:15 +0100 4975993 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975834&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FqV6NneC-OkM%2F By Tim LynchOver at NRO, Mark Steyn on last Friday’s order that Conrad Black report back to federal prison: With a system that relies on multiple charges and an ability to pressure everybody else in the case to switch sides, you can win (as Conrad did) nineteen-twentieths of the battles and still lose the war. He’s a wealthy businessman, and nobody has any sympathy for those. But it’s even worse if you’re a nobody. A New Hampshire neighbor of mine had the misfortune to attract the attention of federal prosecutors for one of those white-collar “crimes” no one can explain in English. The jury acquitted him in a couple of hours. Great news! The system worked! Not really. By then, the feds had spent a half-decade demolishing his life, exhausting his savings, wrecking his m... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975834 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 20:07:55 +0100 4975834 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975838&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FvJgnjNUGgPE%2F By Mark A. CalabriaI wasn’t in the mood Friday to celebrate the 73rd birthday of the federal minimum wage, created under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.  Looking at youth unemployment numbers can be a little depressing.   Those figures should, however, sober up anyone who is still drunk under the spell of thinking the minimum wage has no impact on unemployment. The chart above shows the increase in unemployment overall (right axis) and the unemployment rate for workers age 16 to 19 (left axis).  The difference between these two numbers usually runs about 10 percent, even in good times.  Notice that when the minimum wage was raised in July 2009, overall unemployment had started to level off, while youth unemployment sky-rocketed.  We also witnessed a big spike in youth un... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975838 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 16:12:13 +0100 4975838 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4968944&cid=t_95523_180_f&fid=38603&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzenhabits.net%2Fdoh%2F Post written by Leo Babauta. My daughter Chloe is starting out in college in the fall, and with her newfound independence will come the newfound responsibilities of dealing with money. Like many young people, she hates thinking about finances. I was one of them. I always dreaded budgeting and paying bills and thinking about savings and retirement, and figured I could always deal with it later. Problem with that is you end up screwing yourself if you put things off until later. Living for the moment is great, until the finances catch up with you and the moment starts to suck because you owe a ton of debt. I’ve found that living mindfully means not just partying in the moment, but taking care of things now, when they’re small, rather than when they’re huge. So with that in ... Zen Habits blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4968944 Fri, 24 Jun 2011 15:39:44 +0100 4968944 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4968468&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F7ysC4iXEvsw%2F By Mark A. CalabriaAt the heart of Europe’s bailout of Greece is concern over the solvency of European banks, particularly those in France and Germany.  The largest holders of Greek sovereign debt include BNP Paribas, with over a 5 billion euro exposure, and Societe Generale (didn’t we bail them out of their AIG exposure too?).  Perhaps it is lucky timing that international bank regulators begin meeting Friday to negotiate a revised set of standards for bank capital, under the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.  The previous standards, known as Basel II, played a central role in encouraging European banks to load up on Greek debt.  Under Basel II the amount of capital a bank has to set aside to cover the default risk of any given asset is supposed to be “risk-bas... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4968468 Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:36:22 +0100 4968468 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4960040&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FHTG8W7uWsNE%2F By Mark A. CalabriaOne of the primary reasons the labor market remains weak is that construction activity is relatively low, resulting in a reduced demand for construction workers.  My friends in the building industry argue that because housing starts are at historic lows, we are actually not building enough housing.  While I’m open to that as a possibility, and believe it to be the case in select markets, nationally the evidence suggests otherwise. First of all, the monthly supply of new homes — that is the time that would be required to sell off the current inventory — is still relatively high at just under seven months, as shown in the following figure. Granted this is significantly below the 12 month peak we saw at the beginning of 2009. So without a doubt this number is mo... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4960040 Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:10:18 +0100 4960040 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952793&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FDGqSypCChvo%2F By Mark A. CalabriaI almost hesitate to suggest that anyone actually read Alan Blinder’s defense of Keynesian economics in today’s Wall Street Journal, except that the piece lays out clearly in my mind why Blinder is so wrong.  The only part you really need to read is: In sum, you may view any particular public-spending program as wasteful, inefficient, leading to “big government” or objectionable on some other grounds. But if it’s not financed with higher taxes, and if it doesn’t drive up interest rates, it’s hard to see how it can destroy jobs. So in Blinder’s world, deficits are explicitly not future taxes, despite what I believe is a fairly strong consensus among economists that some form of Ricardian equivalence holds (see John Seater&#... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952793 Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:40:22 +0100 4952793 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952804&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F04p9GU35RGM%2F By Daniel J. MitchellOne of the tax increases buried in Obamacare was an onerous and intrusive “1099″ scheme that would have required businesses to collect tax identification numbers for just about any vendor and then send paperwork to the IRS whenever they did more than $600 of business. Send one of your sales people to New York for a couple of nights? They would have to get the tax ID for the hotel and submit a form to the IRS. Buy a printer for the office? The printer company would need to provide a tax ID and the purchaser would have to submit a form to the IRS. o Have a retirement dinner for somebody in the accounting department? Get the restaurant’s tax ID and submit another form to the IRS. This system was seen as a nightmare, even leading to rather amusing cartoons mocking ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952804 Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:55:16 +0100 4952804 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952807&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FwsPZxFTvNJQ%2F By Steve H. HankeThe rate of broad money growth (M3) in the United States is weak (see the accompanying chart).  The ultra-low federal funds rate (0.25%) has acted to keep a lid on broad money growth and, in turn, economic activity.  Yes, “low” interest rates imposed by the Fed are contributing to a credit crunch and anemic money growth.  But, wait.  This is counter-intuitive.  And if that’s not enough, it’s not what the textbooks tell us, either. While the Fed has pumped huge quantities of so-called high powered money into the economy, the U.S. is paradoxically facing a credit crunch.  Banks have utilized their liquidity to pile up cash and accumulate government bonds and securities.  In contrast, bank loans have actually decreased since May 2008.  And since credit is a s... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952807 Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:45:07 +0100 4952807 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4934116&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fe1beF_fA0Do%2F By Mark A. CalabriaOne of the biggest inside-the-Beltway battles continues to be over the nomination of Elizabeth Warren to head the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  Recently the White House floated the name of Raj Date, one of Ms. Warren’s hand-picked staffers at the CFPB, as a substitute.  Many on all sides of the issue continue to wonder why the White House doesn’t just nominate Warren and make Republicans (and not a few Democrats) vote against her.  After all she appears to be beloved on the Left.  Perhaps the White House already knew what I had suspected, but only recently confirmed: that Professor Warren is neither as well known or liked as commonly believed.  A recent poll in Massachusetts by Democratic pollsters Public Policy Polling, who tend t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4934116 Tue, 14 Jun 2011 22:08:36 +0100 4934116 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921387&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F53tWId1h4xQ%2F By John SamplesFor some time now, the U.S. Supreme Court has placed little weight on the value of anonymous speech, especially in the campaign finance context. True, in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission (1995), the Court struck down a state law prohibiting distributing anonymous campaign literature. But from Buckley v. Valeo (1976) onward, the Court has looked favorably on disclosure of campaign spending. Even Citizens United saw only one justice, Clarence Thomas, speak out in favor of anonymous speech. Long-time First Amendment advocate Nat Hentoff raises some questions about limiting anonymous speech in this video. He praises Justice Thomas and recalls the importance of anonymous speech during the founding era. Defending Anonymous Speech is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institut... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921387 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 17:23:19 +0100 4921387 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921789&cid=t_95523_180_f&fid=38603&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzenhabits.net%2Ftransit%2F Post written by Leo Babauta. For almost a year now, my wife Eva, my six kids and I have been walking and riding mass transit almost exclusively. We have bikes but we’re still new to them, and we also use City Carshare for longer trips out of the city. But for everything else, it’s walking and mass transit — for meeting with people, going to restaurants and movies and museums and parks, for grocery shopping (we only buy what we can carry), farmer’s markets, fairs, visiting relatives, and more. It’s been one of the best things ever for us. We’ve adjusted from being car users when we were on Guam. I love walking tremendously (I can walk anywhere in the city), but I also love the mass transit … for the lessons it has taught my family. Some of the lesso... Zen Habits blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921789 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:16:00 +0100 4921789 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921392&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FMFX0MWafTOw%2F By Neal McCluskeyThe following is cross-posted from the National Journal’s Education Experts blog. This week’s topic: Whether new ”gainful employment” regulations for higher education are too little, too much, or just right: I agree largely with Steve Peha — our policies and mindsets have made “college” synonymous with “job training,” and that has led to huge inefficiencies. But there is an even deeper problem: government aid, both to students and schools. The most aggressive opponents of for-profit schooling to have posted thus far appear to agree that taxpayer-funded student aid is what for-profit institutions are after. No doubt the critics are, for the most part, right. But there is another side to this equation: The aid also enables stu... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921392 Thu, 09 Jun 2011 17:21:39 +0100 4921392 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921396&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FKyovaxBLj6s%2F By Neal McCluskeyOver at the New America Foundation’s “Higher Ed Watch” blog, Stephen Burd purports to know “the truth behind Senate Republican’s boycott of the Harkin hearing.” And what is that truth? Republicans are trying to “discredit an investigation that has revealed just how much damage their efforts to deregulate the industry over the past decade have caused both students and taxpayers.” Really? Okay, it is possible that Republicans are trying to save themselves some sort of blame or embarrasment — I can’t read their minds — but if so they’ve done a terrible job. Every time Harkin holds one of his hearings the bulk of the media coverage treats it like it has revealed shocking abuse by the entire for-profit se... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921396 Thu, 09 Jun 2011 13:54:55 +0100 4921396 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4911460&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F7aevM6o7g8Q%2F By Mark A. CalabriaYou might have heard of Peter Diamond, he recently won the Nobel Prize in Economics and earlier this week withdrew his nomination to the Federal Reserve Board. But maybe you have not heard of Paul Pate. Mr. Pate, former Republican mayor of Cedar Rapids, Iowa was nominated by President Bush in 2003 to fill a seat on the board of the National Institute of Building Sciences. I remember it well, as I handled that nomination as staff for the Senate Banking Committee. So what exactly do Mr. Diamond and Mr. Pate have in common? They were both nominated for positions they could not legally hold. I’ve written elsewhere about Mr. Diamond’s situation. Mr. Pate was barred from serving on the NIBS board due to an ownership interest he had in an asphalt company. Bush&#8217... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4911460 Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:07:13 +0100 4911460 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4902408&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FvibE5rjCuMw%2F By Mark A. CalabriaToday Nobel Prize-winning economist Peter Diamond announced he is withdrawing his nomination to the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System.  Professor Diamond, in the pages of New York Times, blames the opposition to his nomination on both partisan politics and what he sees as a misunderstanding of the relationship between unemployment and monetary policy.  Mr. Diamond, however, is the one with a fundamental misunderstanding.  We all know unemployment is an important issue and needs to be addressed.  The question is whether it can be addressed with loose monetary policy.  Mr. Diamond apparently believes it can.  There are many who believe it cannot.  If all our labor market problems could be solved with loose money, then we’d already be at full... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4902408 Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:08:29 +0100 4902408 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893403&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FiK60lDYB1B0%2F By Walter OlsonI see the editorialists of the New York Times have rhapsodically hailed last week’s 3-2 New Jersey Supreme Court opinion striking down the budget-trimming plans of Gov. Chris Christie. As the press reported, the court ordered instead that an extra $500 million in state funds be allocated to some of the state’s poorest-performing school districts — the so-called Abbott districts, named after the three-decade-running New Jersey school finance litigation, Abbott v. Burke. It’s too bad the editorial said nothing about the report five years ago in which one leading newspaper surveyed the wreckage done by the then-25-year-old litigation, which it called an “ambitious court-ordered social experiment.” (At that point, $35 billion in state tax mon... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893403 Thu, 02 Jun 2011 19:40:14 +0100 4893403 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4883555&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FKW1EQMnEyew%2F By Daniel J. MitchellWay back in February of 2010, I wrote that a Greek bailout would be a failure. Not surprisingly, the bureaucrats at the International Monetary Fund and the political elite from other European nations ignored my advice and gave tens of billions of dollars to Greece’s corrupt politicians. The bailout happened in part because politicians and international bureaucrats (when they’re not getting arrested for molesting hotel maids) have a compulsion to squander other people’s money. But it also should be noted that the Greek bailout was a way of indirectly bailing out the big European banks that recklessly lent money to a profligate government (as explained here). At the risk of sounding smug, let’s look at my four predictions from February 2010 and se... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4883555 Tue, 31 May 2011 20:19:10 +0100 4883555 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4883558&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FOQRfT8bXzW4%2F By Mark A. CalabriaOn July 8th, Sheila Bair will step down as Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).  While I believe she’s gotten a lot wrong (such as not preparing the fund for the coming crisis), she has been about the only voice among senior bank regulators for actually ending too-big-to-fail.  With her departure, we might lose that one voice.  Later this year, Kansas City Fed President Tom Hoenig is also scheduled to leave his current position. Hoenig has actually gone beyond Bair in trying to address too-big-to-fail, having called for the largest banks to be broken up.  While I don’t believe that should be our first approach, having an advocate for both the taxpayer and the overall economy at the helm of the FDIC could make a significant difference... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4883558 Tue, 31 May 2011 16:09:00 +0100 4883558 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4883561&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F_mOCBcVrqZE%2F By David BoazEconomist John B. Taylor reviews Reckless Endangerment by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner: The book focuses on two agencies of government, Fannie Mae and the Federal Reserve. The mutual support system is better explained and documented in the case of Fannie, the government-sponsored enterprise that supported the home mortgage market by buying mortgages and packaging them into marketable securities which it then guaranteed and sold to investors. The federal government supported Fannie Mae — and the other large government-sponsored enterprise, Freddie Mac — by implicitly backing up those guarantees and by providing favorable regulatory treatment and protection from competition. These benefits enabled Fannie to rake in excess profits — $2 billion in excess, according t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4883561 Sun, 29 May 2011 18:12:19 +0100 4883561 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862510&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FYucnq5cUyoY%2F By Jim HarperIf you haven’t seen it already, be sure to give a read to Friedman Prize winner Hernando de Soto‘s recent piece in Business Week, “The Destruction of Economic Facts.” It’s a fascinating perspective on the economic and financial turmoil that is wracking the United States and the world. As de Soto perceives more easily from working in developing economies, an important input into functioning markets is good information—about property, ownership, debts, and so on. The “destruction of economic facts” is one of the roots of instability and uncertainty in Europe and the United States: “In a few short decades the West undercut 150 years of legal reforms that made the global economy possible.” The law and markets are informat... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862510 Wed, 25 May 2011 15:42:19 +0100 4862510 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862964&cid=t_95523_180_f&fid=38603&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzenhabits.net%2Fcash%2F Post written by Leo Babauta. I haven’t written about finances in awhile, because these days I barely think about them. That’s because for several years, I focused on getting out of debt — and these days, I live completely debt-free and worry little about finances. It’s a beautiful thing. However, recently a reader asked me to write about Simple Budgeting, and so I thought I’d revisit the topic. I’ll talk about how I deal with finances these days, and then a Simple Budgeting method for those who aren’t exactly debt-free yet. How I Deal with Finances As I said, these days my finances barely register on my brain. Now that I’m out of debt, it’s not a major issue for me, and I’ve automated most of my finances. Here’s what I do: ... Zen Habits blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862964 Wed, 25 May 2011 15:08:48 +0100 4862964 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862514&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FBrZgMjl4-q0%2F By Mark A. CalabriaThere’s a great piece in the spring issue of The Independent Review on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke by San Jose State Professor Jeffrey Rogers Hummel.  Although a bit long, its well worth the read for anyone wanting to understand both Bernanke’s thinking and his actions during and since the financial crisis. First, Prof. Hummel discusses the differences between Bernanke’s and Milton Friedman’s explanations for the Great Depression.  Those that debate whether Bernanke’s actions, especially the quantitative easings, would be approved of by Friedman will get a lot out of this discussion.  From this comparison, you get the point that Friedman was concerned about overall credit conditions and liquidity, whereas Bernanke is less focuse... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862514 Tue, 24 May 2011 19:15:18 +0100 4862514 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4847938&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FZwzZiYZdhbw%2F In this study Swami Aiyar takes on another bad idea: creating an IMF currency to rival the dollar. The IMF—A Reading List is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4847938 Fri, 20 May 2011 21:08:23 +0100 4847938 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4841432&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fws-YuYnwqiQ%2F By Mark A. CalabriaWith Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK to his friends and lovers) having finally resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund, the race has begun among those in Europe who wish to succeed him.  First, the real debate should be over how soon can we shut down the IMF, not over who should be reaping the spoils.  Its original purpose under Bretton Woods became irrelevant decades ago.  And while it found a new role as bailout fund for international banks, this new role is not one we should be supporting. Given we are probably stuck with the IMF, the question becomes who should run it.  Europeans are now arguing that the European sovereign debt crisis displays the need for Europe to remain in control.  In fact I believe it demonstrates the opposite: European polit... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4841432 Thu, 19 May 2011 15:19:14 +0100 4841432 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4828862&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FIwlo5uy3QJk%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThere’s a lot of buzz about a Wall Street Journal interview with Stanley Druckenmiller, in which he argues that a temporary delay in making payments on U.S. government debt (which technically would be a default) would be a small price to pay if it resulted in the long-term spending reforms that are needed to save America from becoming another Greece. One of the world’s most successful money managers, the lanky, sandy-haired Mr. Druckenmiller is so concerned about the government’s ability to pay for its future obligations that he’s willing to accept a temporary delay in the interest payments he’s owed on his U.S. Treasury bonds—if the result is a Washington deal to restrain runaway entitlement costs. “I think technical default would... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4828862 Mon, 16 May 2011 13:48:30 +0100 4828862 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4820812&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FjmWaKEP5nYU%2F By Mark A. CalabriaToday the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the consumer price index (CPI) numbers for April, which generally gives us the best picture of inflation.  The headline number is that between April 2010 and April 2011, consumer prices increased 3.2 percent, as measured by the CPI.  Obviously this is well above 2 percent, the number Ben Bernanke defines as “price stability.”  Setting aside the reasonableness of that definition, there is definitely some mild inflation in the economy. Also of interest in the April numbers is that if you subtract housing, which makes up over 40% of the weight of the CPI, then prices increased 4.2 percent — twice Bernanke’s measure of stability.  What has always been problematic of the housing component is that its large... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4820812 Fri, 13 May 2011 18:50:38 +0100 4820812 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4795080&cid=t_95523_180_f&fid=38615&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Flifeoptimizer%2F%7E3%2FJQ2lD1sU_LU%2F Note: This is a guest post from John Suter of Money Saving Challenge Busy modern lives leave us with little time for managing our finances and we often have to compromise on getting the best deals or completing tasks efficiently, simply because we don’t have enough time. But in many cases, being time poor is just an excuse for procrastination and the reality is that we are either too lazy or too perfectionist to properly find deals and plan for the future. In fact, the whole business of being time poor is big business and there are companies of all sizes making very good money out of people who don’t believe they have enough time to cook their own food, iron their own shirts, hunt around for cheaper insurance deals, move their money to higher-interest bank accounts or properly research... Life Optimizer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4795080 Sat, 07 May 2011 02:25:58 +0100 4795080 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4795078&cid=t_95523_180_f&fid=38612&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpickthebrain%2FLYVv%2F%7E3%2F7iSWXKZ2S-s%2F Experts talk about the pros and cons of cash gifts, earned money, dole outs, and allowances. Parents wonder, which is right for their families. We may be missing the bigger picture. How our children get spending money is irrelevant. It’s what they learn about money that matters. When we say we want our children to know about money, what do we mean? Do we mean we want them to know how-to make it and how-to spend it? If we teach them the why we make money and why we spend money, they will know how-to. If money is the end, there will never be enough. If money is a means, there will be plenty. It is not necessary for children to have their own money to learn to manage money. They are learning by everything we do – how we hide it, how we spend it, if we share it, and if we waste it. ... PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4795078 Fri, 06 May 2011 17:04:38 +0100 4795078 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4789206&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FqBLMXiSqPJc%2F By Mark A. CalabriaI’ve long suspected that the primary reason much of the residential real estate industry supports subsidies such as Fannie Mae or the mortgage interest deduction is in the belief that such subsidies increase house prices.  And when your income is commission based, higher prices do indeed sound pretty good from the perspective of the industry.  Of course, we also hear that the industry supports these subsidies because they want everyone to be a homeowner, wave the flag and have plenty of apple pie.  Yes, those seemingly industry subsidies are really for all of us.  Perhaps the best one  I heard recently was that homeownership subsidies promoted self-reliance.  Here I was thinking subsidies are the opposite of self-reliance.  Silly me. But if the price of a go... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4789206 Thu, 05 May 2011 18:54:26 +0100 4789206 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4789220&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fl6rZ5DLuA-4%2F By Mark A. CalabriaLast week I participated on a panel on federal rental housing policy, organized by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies in conjunction with the release of their new report on conditions in the rental market.  In their defense, the report does attempt to avoid offering policy prescriptions.  But the report does come pretty close to suggesting that we spend more on federal rental housing assistance.  In the post-housing bubble  environment, many, myself included, have dared suggest that there’s nothing wrong with someone being a renter, and that maybe we pushed too many into homeownership. But saying we overdid homeowneship is not the same as saying we ignored rental.  In fact the federal government has spent massive amounts on rental housing, yet ac... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4789220 Wed, 04 May 2011 18:01:28 +0100 4789220 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4780292&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F-bKAEJ36A_Q%2F By Mark A. CalabriaThe Wall Street Journal has pointed out that in his recent press conference Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke used the words “inflation expectations” (or some variation) 21 times. His argument is that we need not worry about inflation because we will see it coming, and then the Fed will do something about it. Such an argument relies heavily on the ability of inflation expectations to predict inflation. Which of course raises the question, just how predictive are inflation expectations? The graph below compares inflation, as measured by CPI, and inflation expectations, as measured by the University of Michigan consumer survey, the longest times series we have on inflation expectations. Clearly the two move together. For instance, the correlation between c... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4780292 Tue, 03 May 2011 17:17:37 +0100 4780292 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4775371&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FwF5RMZLRSBs%2F By David BoazLast week all the guests on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show said Ron Paul was bad, very bad, to question the legitimacy of the Federal Reserve Board. (Very near the end of the show.) Diane responded by saying that Paul would be interviewed on the show the following week, but the show’s website didn’t confirm that. Now it does. Tomorrow, Tuesday, at 10 a.m. ET, Ron Paul discusses his new book Liberty Defined on the Diane Rehm Show. Expect tough questions and lots of callers. If taxes and inflation make it impossible for you to afford Paul’s new book, you can always read his book The Case for Gold for free online. Ron Paul on Diane Rehm is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4775371 Mon, 02 May 2011 15:40:04 +0100 4775371 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4768282&cid=t_95523_180_f&fid=38615&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Flifeoptimizer%2F%7E3%2Frp92Y-GR1F8%2F There is a sad fact in this world we live in. Many people live overloaded lives. They have so many activities and responsibilities that they often feel exhausted. They live from paycheck to paycheck with no room for unexpected expenses. And they keep spending their emotional and physical energy with little or no time to restore it. There’s a book related to it entitled Margin. The book argues that many people fill their lives up to the capacity, be it in term of energy, finance, or time. As a result, their lives are no longer in balance. They might seem "productive" in one or two areas of their lives, but the other areas of their lives suffer. They might have a good career, for instance, but their health and relationships suffer. This, of course, is not a good way to live.... Life Optimizer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4768282 Sat, 30 Apr 2011 00:37:59 +0100 4768282 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4758732&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEJd6AXyKP1Y%2F By John SamplesIn an earlier post, I wrote about the problems with the Obama administration’s executive order to force government contractors to reveal their political activity. The administration defends the mandate by arguing “taxpayers deserve to know how contractors are spending money they’ve earned from the government.” For the first (and perhaps last) time, I rise to the defense of government contractors. The President apparently believes that anyone who sells a good or service to the government must account for the uses of the money received in the transaction in perpetuity? Obama’s press secretary said the President’s “goal is transparency and accountability. That’s the responsible thing to do when you’re handling taxpayer dollars.” I do ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4758732 Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:28:56 +0100 4758732 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4758742&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FqriEL585sqM%2F By Steve H. HankeThe public has finally started to give President Obama’s economic policies a big “thumbs down”.  This shouldn’t surprise anyone who is familiar with the Misery Index. While President Obama sings the glories of big government, it is ironic that he has been marked by the curse of government failure.  One metric that measures how this curse will affect the President’s performance is the Misery Index (see the accompanying chart). The Index is calculated by adding the difference between the average inflation rate over a president’s term and the average inflation rate during the last year of the previous president’s term; the difference between the average unemployment rate over a president’s term and the unemployment rate during the last month... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4758742 Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:14:55 +0100 4758742 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4753664&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FM-da7bJjngI%2F By Michael F. CannonI’ve been meaning to write about how ObamaCare’s unelected rationing board — innocuously titled the Independent Payment Advisory Board — is yet another example of the Left leading America down the road to serfdom.  (Efforts to limit political speech — innocuously called “campaign finance reform” — are another.) As Friedrich Hayek explained in The Road to Serfdom (1944), when democracies allow government to direct economic activity, the inevitable failures lead to calls for a more authoritarian form of governance: Parliaments come to be regarded as ineffective “talking shops,” unable or incompetent to carry out the tasks for which they have been chosen. The conviction grows that if efficient planning is to be done, the directi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4753664 Tue, 26 Apr 2011 20:54:12 +0100 4753664 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4753665&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEysqe_Q8ZR0%2F By Mark A. CalabriaApril 27th begins a new chapter in Federal Reserve history: the Fed joins other major central banks in having a press conference after its monetary policy meetings (the Federal Open Market Committee).  Apparently the record lows in public support for the Fed, along with rising gas and food prices, have driven Bernanke to attempt to change the narrative.  After all, his appearance on “60 Minutes” did wonders for the Fed’s reputation.  I’m excited to hear even more about his childhood in Dillon, South Carolina or his time working at South of the Border.  Maybe an enterprising reporter could ask how much menu prices at South of the Border have increased since Bernanke took over the Fed. Perhaps you’ve noticed that I don’t have high ex... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4753665 Tue, 26 Apr 2011 19:57:13 +0100 4753665 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4747602&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FOOz5ZFxMdvA%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThere hasn’t been much good economic news in recent years, but one bright spot for the economy is that the United States is a haven for foreign investors and this has helped attract more than $10 trillion to American capital markets according to Commerce Department data. These funds are hugely important for the health of the U.S. financial sector and are a critical source of funds for new job creation and other forms of investment. This is a credit to the competitiveness of American banks and other financial institutions, but we also should give credit to politicians. For more than 90 years, Congress has approved and maintained laws to attract investment from overseas. As a general rule, foreigners are not taxed on interest they earn in America. Moreover, by not... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4747602 Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:40:43 +0100 4747602 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4734055&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fmk_JJ-d9Xfs%2F By Jagadeesh GokhaleYesterday I had an op-ed in Politico suggesting that U.S. lawmakers should consider not raising the federal debt limit (at least for now). I argued that freezing the ceiling would assure investors that the United States is serious about reducing its debt, and that it would serve as a commitment device for lawmakers and President Obama to forge and follow a serious debt-reduction strategy. A financial website writer named Joe Weisenthal strongly disagreed with my column. He seems to misunderstand several of the points that I was making, and so I offer the following response to his comments: From Weisenthal’s post: Another day, another economist advocating that the US default on its debt. The latest is Jagadeesh Gokhale of the Cato Institute, who has a big piece advo... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4734055 Wed, 20 Apr 2011 17:31:10 +0100 4734055 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4723786&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FNFg2b0upjHA%2F By Walter OlsonAs Iain Murray points out at National Review‘s “Corner,” there’s no date on the calendar each year that reminds us, the way income tax filing day does, of the huge share of our economic labors that the government commands in the name of regulation. In part this is because the costs of regulation are even better disguised than those of taxation: while paycheck withholding may lull us into complacency about our income tax burden, it is downright transparent compared with the costs of regulation, which the ordinary citizen may never recognize when passed along in the form of higher utility bills or sluggish performance by some sector of the economy. Iain notes the good work done by his colleagues at the Competitive Enterprise Institute: Regulations cost... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4723786 Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:19:45 +0100 4723786 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4723773&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=34925&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbestyoucanbe.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F04%2Fadapting-to-fewer-resources-for-special.html The future is looking kind of gloomy for most Americans ...Care of special needs adults in post-employment America... the Great Recession grinds on. The percent of employed adult Americans (employment-population ratio) is now back to where it was in 1976, when most women weren't in the workforce. The annual incomes of the bottom 90% of US families has been flat since 1973...Some Americans are astoundingly wealthy, but most of us are not. The direct and indirect costs of care of a disabled child, or adult, means special needs families were stressed even when American social supports were relatively robust. Now things are getting harder ...... Many young adults with autism have transitioned into large residential systems, whether group homes or institutions, offering round-the-clock service... Be the Best You can Be blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4723773 Sun, 17 Apr 2011 01:46:00 +0100 4723773 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4719883&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F34bI-IHWah4%2F By Daniel J. MitchellBy taking advantage of  “must-pass” pieces of legislation, Republicans have three chances this year to restrain the burden of government.  They didn’t do very well with the “CR fight” over appropriated spending for the rest of FY2011, which was their first opportunity. I was hoping for an extra-base hit off the fence, but the GOP was afraid of a government shutdown and negotiated from a position of weakness. As such, the best interpretation is that they eked out an infield single. The next chance to impose fiscal discipline will be the debt limit. Currently, the federal government “only” has the authority to borrow $14.3 trillion (including bookkeeping entries such as the IOUs in the Social Security Trust Fund). This is a ver... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4719883 Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:57:04 +0100 4719883 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4714722&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FQ6GH8zSP-7k%2F By Thomas FireyWith gasoline in the United States moving toward (and in some places, above) $4 a gallon and motorists understandably unhappy, there is a growing desire to blame someone for the high prices. Previous gas price spikes in 2006 and 2008 brought blame upon ”Big Oil” (meaning firms like Exxon-Mobil, BP, Royal Dutch/Shell, et al., which really are just mid-sized oil — but whatever), the Bush administration and Republicans, environmentalists, and the federal government. But 2011 offers a new leader in the blame game: speculators. From Capitol Hill lawmakers, to business columnists, to finance websites, to activist websites, to newspaper articles, to letters to the editor and hyper-forwarded emails, people are calling out trading in the oil and gasoline futures ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4714722 Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:03:37 +0100 4714722 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4709190&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fw_3gECG0FYA%2F By John SamplesOver the next few years, most arguments about campaign finance regulation will be about extending mandated disclosure to some of the independent spending freed up by the Citizens United decision. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, James L. Huffman offers a unique perspective on mandated disclosure: he was a candidate for the U.S. Senate last year. He argues that mandated disclosure means incumbents know who funded the campaigns of their challengers.  Incumbents do not have to actually threaten anyone; disclosure plus circumstances means a cautious businessperson will stay clear of electoral participation. Huffman also claims that some people who might have contributed to his campaign heard from associates of his opponent who said contributing to Huffman might be a bad idea... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4709190 Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:32:20 +0100 4709190 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4696608&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPkaC9qB_l8c%2F By Daniel J. MitchellI’m not a big fan of the IRS, but usually I blame politicians for America’s corrupt, unfair, and punitive tax system. Sometimes, though, the tax bureaucrats run amok and earn their reputation as America’s most despised bureaucracy. Here’s an example. Earlier this year, the Internal Revenue Service proposed a regulation that would force American banks to become deputy tax collectors for foreign governments. Specifically, they would be required to report any interest they pay to accounts held by nonresident aliens (a term used for foreigners who live abroad). The IRS issued this proposal, even though Congress repeatedly has voted not to tax this income because of an understandable desire to attract job-creating capital to the U.S. economy. In oth... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4696608 Mon, 11 Apr 2011 12:00:46 +0100 4696608 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4693265&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fuh40eOjEgtc%2F By Mark A. CalabriaEarlier this week I repeatedly heard the claim that if the federal government does not guarantee credit risk in the mortgage market, foreigners won’t buy U.S. mortgage-related debt.  Before we test whether that claim is true, let’s first determine just how important are foreign investors in the U.S. mortgage market. For the most part, foreign investors do not hold U.S. mortgages directly, but either hold Fannie and Freddie debt and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) or hold private-label MBS.  As the private-label securities lack a government guarantee, we can ignore that segment of the market.  The chart below depicts the percentage share of foreign ownership of these securities in recent years: The chart illustrates that, at times (particularly around ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4693265 Fri, 08 Apr 2011 21:21:02 +0100 4693265 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4676752&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F2dyd59SbZYU%2F By Mark A. CalabriaOne of the rationales commonly given for massively subsidizing our mortgage market is that without such homeownership would be out of reach for many households.  Such a rationale implies that more debt should be associated with more homeownership.   (Let's set aside the obvious, how are you actually an owner without any equity?) But is that the case.  The chart below compares the homeownership rate with the average debt-to-value ratio of U.S. households.  (Data on debt-to-value is from the Fed's Flow of Funds and homeownership is from the Census Bureau). By 1960, the homeownership rate was already over 60%, yet debt-to-value was less than 30%, half of the current value.  Even in 1990, when homeownership reached over 64%, debt-to-value was still under 40%.  From... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4676752 Mon, 04 Apr 2011 20:24:55 +0100 4676752 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4677141&cid=t_95523_180_f&fid=38603&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzenhabits.net%2Ffamily-reboot%2F Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Sherri Kruger of Zen Family Habits. Is your family stuck in a rut? Are you bored? Do you find yourself wondering how you got so far off track? You’re not alone! All families go through times like these occasionally. I know I would love to be able to push a pause button and just sit, regroup and get back on track. While that’s not literally an option, life doesn’t come with a pause button, there are ways we can get back in touch with our families. With a bit of effort it is possible to get in sync, connect and move forward in a deliberate and meaningful way as a team. I have a great family who I love dearly but that’s not to say we get off track from time to time. I want to share with you a few things we do occasionally ... Zen Habits blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4677141 Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:08:43 +0100 4677141 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4676762&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fuv0ru12imco%2F By George Scoville "One of the first rules of negotiating is never to threaten to do something unless you are prepared to do it." Policymakers and pundits assume the U.S. is so dominant that we're prepared to fight multiple fronts at once, and that it won't affect our security. Candidates for office should prepare to raise money, not rely on taxpayer subsidies. More market liberalization could help prepare Japan for any other natural disaster. Are Tea Party-backed Republicans prepared to go the distance on spending cuts? Monday Links is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4676762 Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:42:02 +0100 4676762 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4653315&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FFQQJv3QGBnk%2F By Ilya ShapiroYesterday the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Arizona matching-public-campaign-funding case, McComish v. Bennett, spearheaded by our friends at the Goldwater Institute and the Institute for Justice. Here's the background:  In 1998, after years of scandals ranging from governors being indicted to legislators taking bribes, Arizona passed the Citizens Clean Elections Act. This law was intended to “clean up” state politics by creating a system for publicly funding campaigns.  Participation in the public funding is not mandatory, however, and those who do not participate are subject to rules that match their “excess” private funds with disbursals to their opponent from the public fund. In short, if a privately funded candidate spends more than his publicly f... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4653315 Tue, 29 Mar 2011 14:26:45 +0100 4653315 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4642575&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F0-9tGgFrTbk%2F By Daniel J. MitchellA previous post of mine at International Liberty addressed the debate over whether Republicans should trim the IRS's budget. The following case study should convince everyone that the answer is a resounding yes. First, some background from a Joe Nocera column in the New York Times. The federal government made a rather troubling decision a few years ago to investigate, prosecute, and ultimately imprison a random home-loan borrower named Charlie Engle for the crime of mortgage fraud. Mr. Engle is far from blameless in this saga, but I noted in another post that it was rather odd that the government would target a nobody while letting all the big fish swim away. This episode certainly paints a picture of a government that has one set of rules for ordinary people, but a... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4642575 Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:08:00 +0100 4642575 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4631462&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fnt-CJoPq2Mk%2F By Mark A. CalabriaToday Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke announced he would hold four annual press conferences, after select meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee.  The first such meeting will be on April 27 and will be webcast. While I generally haven't been a fan of Bernanke's policy decisions, many of his "process" decisions, such as holding these press conferences, have been moves in the right direction of greater Fed communication with the public.  The Fed took some bold moves during and since the financial crisis -- often without a word to the public.  Indeed, it is interesting that this announcement comes only a few days after the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of the Bloomberg suit demanding Fed disclosure of banks assisted during the crisis.  It remain... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4631462 Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:26:59 +0100 4631462 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4626770&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F03%2Fdespite-poor-financial-results.html It is the season for share-holders' meetings of big US publicly held corporations, and as the proxy statements prepared for these meetings, prepare for more eye-popping, jaw-dropping examples of executive compensation.  Pfizer's 2010 CEO CompensationThe AP (via the Wall Street Journal) just noted the compensation given to Jeffrey Kindler, the outgoing (in 2010) CEO of Pfizer, Inc, the world's largest pharmaceutical company:Former Pfizer Inc. Chairman and CEO Jeffrey B. Kindler may have left the world's largest drugmaker abruptly last December, but he didn't leave empty-handed thanks to a compensation package valued almost $22 million.Kindler received a 60 percent increase last year over his 2009 compensation, according to an Associated Press analysis of a Pfizer regulatory filing Tues... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4626770 Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:14:00 +0100 4626770 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4615083&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FwQVFtpMI84E%2F By Daniel J. MitchellTo put it mildly, the Federal Reserve has a dismal track record. It bears significant responsibility for almost every major economic upheaval of the past 100 years, including the Great Depression, the 1970s stagflation, and the recent financial crisis. Perhaps the most damning statistic is that the dollar has lost 95 percent of its value since the central bank was created. Notwithstanding its poor performance, the Federal Reserve seems to get more power over time. But rather than rewarding the central bank for debasing the currency and causing instability, perhaps it's time to contemplate alternatives. This new video from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity dives into that issue, exposing the Fed's poor track record, explaining how central banking evolved, and mentio... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4615083 Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:07:28 +0100 4615083 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4610794&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F-CmQhTHrVgc%2F By Mark A. CalabriaDebates over the causes of the financial crisis sometimes center on whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were "late to the party" in terms of subprime lending.  As it relates to the recent crisis, I address this question elsewhere.  The GSEs and their apologists do claim to have been big contributors to one party: the expansion of homeownership in the United States.  Yet the facts suggest otherwise. The chart below compares the GSE's market-share, in terms of home mortgage lending (as reported in the Fed's Flow of Funds data), with the national homeownership rate (as reported in the Decennial Census).  The chart makes readily apparent that the largest increases in homeownership occurred before the GSEs played much of a role, if any, in the mortgage market.  For ins... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4610794 Fri, 18 Mar 2011 19:04:15 +0100 4610794 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4600495&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F03%2Fdespite-recalls-legal-settlements.html For our latest story about the tremendous disconnect between the pay and performance of leaders of health care organizations, we turn to Reuters.  Astronomical PayDespite having a very bad 2010, Johnson and Johnson continued to reward its CEO royally:After a year in which Johnson & Johnson's product quality control was deemed such a shambles that the U.S. government will oversee some plants, the board had praise for Chief Executive William Weldon and awarded him almost $29 million in overall compensation.The once golden reputation of the diversified healthcare giant was severely tarnished by seemingly endless recalls of widely used consumer products as well as recalls of medical devices and products from other units in 2010.U.S. consumer product sales fell by more than 19 percent ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4600495 Wed, 16 Mar 2011 21:00:00 +0100 4600495 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4600516&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FnBZjUjXk7YU%2F By Mark A. CalabriaThanks to Denver lawyer Kevin Evans, who filed the Freedom of Information Act Request, we now know that several employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) might have missed the financial crisis because their eyes were glued to their computer screens watching porn. The chart below shows the number of incidents, as reported by the SEC's Inspector General.  What caught my eye was that the number of porn-viewing incidents shows a massive spike in 2008, when the financial crisis was at its worst. It should, of course, be noted that the overall level of incidents was small in number, so we shouldn't draw too many conclusions about the SEC overall.  We should, however, be concerned at at least one of these employees was being paid $222,418 a year.  I might be... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4600516 Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:51:11 +0100 4600516 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4600517&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F1YSRhz1002k%2F By Neal McCluskeyAn explanation for explosive college prices that's very popular with ivory-tower apologists is that state governments have been ruthlessly "defunding" higher ed for years, forcing schools to raise prices. Two new reports help to make clear -- as I have argued many times in the past -- that this simply doesn't hold water. The first report is the annual State Higher Education Executive Officers' State Higher Education Finance Report.  While it shows that on a per-pupil basis state and local funding has declined over the last few years, total amounts have risen pretty steadily since 2000. Adjusted for inflation, total state and local support dipped from $81.3 billion in 2000 to $78.0 billion in 2005, ballooned to $87.1 billion in 2009, then dropped just a bit to $85.5 ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4600517 Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:49:04 +0100 4600517 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4600628&cid=t_95523_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2F6VthUUiXp08%2F Looking for more commentary about another aspect of health IT? Don’t forget that I’m now a regular contributor to MobiHealthNews. This week, I comment on the rave reviews coming in for the iPad 2, particularly from the healthcare sector, and note the significance of Microsoft discontinuing its Zune digital music player, the product that never did gain much traction against Apple’s ubiquitous iPod. While it looks as if the Android platform may be losing out to the iPad in healthcare, I say don’t call this one for Apple just yet, at least not until Research in Motion comes out with its BlackBerry PlayBook next month. I also recently wrote a special report for HFM, the magazine of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, on the subject of optimizing and enhanci... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4600628 Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:36:33 +0100 4600628 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4592360&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FV43-r6AbKQI%2F By Mark A. CalabriaThe Washington Post is reporting that current Federal Housing Administration (FHA) head David Stevens, who only last week announced he was leaving FHA, is going to be the new head of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). When Stevens was first nominated to head FHA, I have to admit I was concerned.  FHA has a long history of prioritizing the interests of the mortgage industry over that of the taxpayer.  And here was a guy right out of the real estate industry (former Freddie Mac exec).  My expectations weren't exactly high.  Maybe because of that, I've been largely impressed.  As FHA Commissioner, Stevens has taken eliminating fraud seriously, as well as avoiding a taxpayer bailout of FHA (so far). All that said, it is hard to imagine that in under a week's time, ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4592360 Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:22:09 +0100 4592360 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4592362&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FY7tesAuqJ3E%2F By Mark A. CalabriaAs Congress and the White House continue to debate the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, one of the oft heard concerns is that if we eliminate all the various mortgage subsidies in our system, then the cost of a mortgage will increase.  There certainly is a basic logic to that concern.  After all, why have subsidies if they don't lower the price of the subsidized good.  Of course some, if not all, of said subsidy could be eaten up by the providers/producers of that good. All this begs the question, with all the subsidies we have for mortgage finance, are mortgages actually cheaper in the U.S.?  While not perfect, one way of answering that question is to look at mortgage rates in other countries.   Although every developed country has some sort of government in... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4592362 Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:19:20 +0100 4592362 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4575263&cid=t_95523_180_f&fid=38612&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpickthebrain%2FLYVv%2F%7E3%2FgvlBzbZrzXk%2F “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.” (Mr. Micawber, in David Copperfield by Charles Dickens – 1850) You already know this secret, really. But maybe you don’t like to think about it. If you’re trying to improve your financial situation, you need to either: Spend less Earn more Even in the post-credit-crunch world, it’s all too easy for us to put items on a credit card. It’s all too easy to run up thousands of dollars of debt – with our spending constantly outstripping our earning. I know how it feels. At times in my life, I’ve carried on spending and spending, hoping, like Mr. Micawber... PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4575263 Fri, 11 Mar 2011 07:04:04 +0100 4575263 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4570527&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FGUU2a_74L4w%2F By Mark A. CalabriaWith State AGs and the Federal Government pushing to further extend the mortgage foreclosure process for late borrowers, one might assume that these government officials believe that further delay has no costs, and is at most a transfer from the lender to the borrower.  Judging from the results of a recent working paper, by economists Shuang Zhu and Kelley Pace at Louisiana State, they would be wrong.  Further foreclosure delays impose significant costs, not just on the economy and lenders, but also on other borrowers. Zhu and Pace start with the observation:   "The longer the period between first missing payment and foreclosure sale, the more valuable the default option becomes. The borrower preserves the option to either keep defaulting or cure the default in the f... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4570527 Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:19:05 +0100 4570527 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4549737&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FVNcSGn3W7Js%2F By Neal McCluskeyBecause the evidence of wrongdoing and evasion is so clear, and the effect has been so damaging, I have devoted a lot of pixels to the GAO's horrendous "secret shopper" report on for-profit colleges, as well as the stonewalling about what caused the initial report to be so biased. A potentially even bigger story, though, is what appears to be the machinations of an unholy alliance of Department of Education officials, Senate HELP Committee chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Wall Street short-sellers hoping to make big bucks off the demise of for-profit schools. This Daily Caller article, and the connected video of Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), are good places to start learning more about this, as is the website of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4549737 Fri, 04 Mar 2011 16:06:27 +0100 4549737 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4544947&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FRmhvzKbuPbs%2F By Ilya ShapiroRecently, activist and filmmaker Annie Leonard released a video titled "The Story of Citizens United v. FEC," an eight-and-a-half-minute criticism of last year’s Supreme Court case of the same name. Well, sort of. Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Lee Doren made his own video critique in response to Ms. Leonard’s offering, and points out quite clearly that Ms. Leonard doesn’t really deal with any actual constitutional problems in her position—essentially ignoring the decision and its rationale—and instead spends most of her time corporation bashing. Lee was kind enough to cite, inter alia, a blogpost I wrote last year about what “corporate personhood” does and does not mean. If Ms. Leonard was going to ignore the decision, it may have at least served her wel... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4544947 Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:40:11 +0100 4544947 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4540547&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F7aEPhdahRNY%2F By Mark A. CalabriaA recent piece in the Economists' Voice by Ed Leamer, who runs the Anderson Forecast Center at UCLA (one of the better forecast shops), diagnoses a new mental illness: Deflation Dread Disorder.  Deflation Dread Disorder is characterized by an almost irrational concern over the almost zero chance of actual deflation — that is, falling prices. Professor Leamer briefly addresses each of the usual reasons given for fearing deflation:  impact of falling prices on business profits, impact on nominal debt burdens, and concerns that consumers will delay spending due to an expectation of lower future prices.  The piece demonstrates why each of these concerns is misplaced in the current environment, and it does so in a manner easily accessible to non-economists.   As it ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4540547 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:44:14 +0100 4540547 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4540550&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F26-13WvS_fA%2F By Alan ReynoldsIn my recent Wall Street Journal article, "The Myth of Corporate Cash Hoarding," I quoted Chris Matthews of MSNBC’s Hardball asking Politico's Charles Mahtesian an apoplectic question about businesses “sitting on their money” just to keep the economy weak and hurt Obama’s reelection chance in 2012.   Then I carelessly added an erroneous superfluity −writing that “Mr. Mahtesian concurred.” My apologies to Charles Mahtesian (and congratulations for having had the good sense to disagree with Chris Matthews). In reality, Mahtesian wisely dodged Chris Matthews’ bizarre interrogation about corporations willfully refusing to spend idle cash until after 2012 election.  Mahtesian instead switched to talking about business going "whole hog" during the 2010 congr... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4540550 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:41:00 +0100 4540550 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4540555&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FXQm6dn1vw6Y%2F By Daniel J. MitchellEarlier this week, the Washington Post predictably gave some publicity to the Keynesian analysis of Mark Zandi, even though his track record is worse than a sports analyst who every year predicts a Super Bowl for the Detroit Lions. The story also cited similar predictions by the politically connected folks at Goldman Sachs. Zandi, an architect of the 2009 stimulus package who has advised both political parties, predicts that the GOP package would reduce economic growth by 0.5 percentage points this year, and by 0.2 percentage points in 2012, resulting in 700,000 fewer jobs by the end of next year. His report comes on the heels of a similar analysis last week by the investment bank Goldman Sachs, which predicted that the Republican spending cuts would cause even greater... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4540555 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 18:56:44 +0100 4540555 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4536049&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F_5nSumydwHM%2F By Michael F. CannonYesterday, the Senate Finance and House Energy & Commerce committees released a joint report on the costs that ObamaCare’s Medicaid mandate will impose on states.  That report, which is based on other reports, likely understates the cost of that unfunded mandate. In “Estimating ObamaCare’s Effect on State Medicaid Expenditure Growth,” Cato senior fellow Jagadeesh Gokhale constructed cost projections for the five largest states -- California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas -- which account for 40 percent of the nation’s population.  Gokhale carefully decomposed and organized micro-data and state-specific administrative data on Medicaid eligibility, enrollments, benefit recipiency, and average benefits per recipient.  Gokhale’s more meticulous a... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4536049 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 12:50:03 +0100 4536049 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4512380&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FShcdYRfdZUs%2F By Mark A. CalabriaThe Washington Post reported today that the increase in January home sales was driven mainly by an increase in all-cash sales.  Whereas I would have thought increasing sales, especially driven by cash buyers, was a sign of market strength; the Post and the National Association of Realtors portrayed this as a bad thing.  NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun went so far as to call this portion of the market "unhealthy." Of course, what NAR and the rest of the real estate lobby were complaining about was that home sales and prices were not being driven by easy credit.  For the housing industry, it would seem that the "correct" house price is the price that is propped up by loose credit.  Yun goes on to say that "investors are taking the advantage of conditions to purchas... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4512380 Wed, 23 Feb 2011 22:15:08 +0100 4512380 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4489646&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fkn09vYMttp4%2F By Mark A. CalabriaThe latest canard offered for keeping taxpayers on the hook for mortgage risk is that, without such, homeownership would limited to the wealthy.  Sarah Rosen Wartell of the Center for American Progress stated before the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, "The high cost, limited availability, and high volatility of pre-New Deal mortgage finance meant that homeownership was effectively limited to the wealthy."  Congressman Al Green repeated the point.  As I've generally found Sarah to be one of the more reasonable CAP employees, and that this is fundamentally an empirical question, I would have expected her to offer some evidence to support such a claim.  Alas, she did not.  So I will. According to the US Census Bureau, at the turn of the century in 1900, the US h... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4489646 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 21:52:02 +0100 4489646 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4482741&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FL1MuKwILD7g%2F By Mark A. CalabriaOn Friday the Obama Administration released its report on "reforming America's Housing Finance Market."  The report claimed that the Administration would work toward "winding down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on a responsible timeline."  While the report was silent on what a responsible timeline would be (surprise, no details); I assumed, perhaps naively, that a reasonable timeline would be 5 to 6 years.  So you can imagine my surprise while reading the Administration's budget proposal (see Table S-12 of the summary tables), released Monday, that the Administration is projecting that the government will be receiving, between 2012 and 2021, $89 billion in dividend payments from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  In 2021 alone the White House projects $8 billion in dividend p... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4482741 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:18:18 +0100 4482741 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4477707&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F8X7p1dYoGm4%2F By David BoazThe financial crisis of 2008 led to a lot of unfortunate Keynesian and corporatist policymaking, but also to a renewed interest in Austrian economics and particularly to the Austrian theory of the business cycle and the role of the Federal Reserve in creating bubbles and busts. Austrian ideas are most recently examined on BBC and in the Washington Post. Sales of F. A. Hayek's book The Road to Serfdom have soared in the past three years, actually hitting no. 1 on Amazon last summer. The New York Times complained that Tea Party activists had "reached back to dusty bookshelves for long-dormant ideas [in] once-obscure texts by dead writers" such as Hayek, even as its reporters continually urged policymakers to Read. More. Keynes. A rap video on the intellectual battle between Ha... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4477707 Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:15:53 +0100 4477707 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4473116&cid=t_95523_180_f&fid=38612&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpickthebrain%2FLYVv%2F%7E3%2FiO5uIe46hQs%2F I’ve been dropping into my favorite coffee shop for years. Then, amid the buzz over the economy and what a waste of money my lattes were, I stopped. Afterward, I found that while passing that coffee shop I missed the smell, the people, the “me time.” This combined with my inferior ability to make a cup of Joe made me realize this experiment was turning into a latte nonsense. We often hear about what we can’t and shouldn’t do. But modern psychology again and again shows us that it’s not all black and white. A little splurge can be good for you; just sitting somewhere for a moment in thought isn’t a waste of time. Even what we know about caffeine has changed. Here are some reasons skipping that latte actually could be bad for your well being. The Sav... PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4473116 Mon, 14 Feb 2011 06:21:00 +0100 4473116 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4464479&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FTyNgbnj1zEA%2F By Mark A. CalabriaRemember that “tough study” promised by Senator Chris Dodd to deal with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?  Well it is finally out.  All 22 pages (of doubled-spaced large font).  And less than half those pages actually discuss Fannie and Freddie. While the report does say a lot of the right things — such as protecting the taxpayer — it is awfully short on any real details.  And in many areas, the report makes clear that the Obama administration intends to keep the taxpayer on the hook for future losses arising from Fannie and Freddie.  For instance, after assuring us that the GSEs will have sufficient capital to meet their obligations, including debt, the report tells us that such capital will not come from investors, but from the taxpayer.  One has to wonder wh... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4464479 Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:00:04 +0100 4464479 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4433078&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F_uwywlwBv6U%2F By David BoazBloomberg reporter Andrew Frye plays it deadpan here.  I don't think I need to comment, either, except to note that the taxpayers' commitment to AIG peaked at $182 billion: American International Group Inc.’s mortgage insurer does more business in Republican-leaning states as it signs up more reliable customers than those in “more liberal” areas, Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche said. “All of the states where we’re a leader, where we’re the No. 1 insurer, are red states, all of the states where we’re at the bottom are blue states,” Benmosche, 66, said yesterday at a conference in Washington. “Part of what we found out is that our model is about culture and it’s about the attitude in the public. And what we find is where there’s more of a tendenc... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4433078 Thu, 03 Feb 2011 22:00:32 +0100 4433078 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4428999&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FGWpaeNPTmQI%2F By Neal McCluskeyLast week, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Comittee, announced that on February 17 he will continue his obssessive attack on for-profit colleges, holding yet another hearing to determine just how evil profit-seekers are.  At least, that is what will presumably be discussed — the specific subject of the hearing is yet to be identified. But the committee actually tackling, say, rampant waste throughout higher education driven by federal student aid, or just giving for-profit schools an even-handed treatment, would be too huge a turnaround to contemplate. Despite there being no end in sight to Harkin’s seige, for-profit institutions aren’t just rolling over, and today they launched their latest ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4428999 Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:06:56 +0100 4428999 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4424507&cid=t_95523_180_f&fid=38603&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzenhabits.net%2Frelationships%2F Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Corey Allan of Simple Marriage. Relationships are easy. You may have read or heard the opposite, that relationships are hard work. I used to believe that was true. Not anymore. Relationships are easy. I understand that making time for someone else or giving up some of the things you love or getting your own way create some struggles in life – but once again, relationships are easy. Perhaps what people who believe relationships are hard work are actually referring to the difficulty of interacting and living with an immature, childish human. Why would it be hard work to be in relationship with a mature, caring grown up? Here’s a couple of other questions to ponder: Why is it that we are sometimes nicer to strangers than we are to lov... Zen Habits blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4424507 Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:22:16 +0100 4424507 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4419121&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FjdtOGYeqx3k%2F By David BoazNPR reports on rising food prices across the world. They may have played some role in the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, and if so, those wouldn’t be the first revolutions sparked by inflation. NPR reporter Marilyn Geewax mentioned several reasons that food prices are rising — droughts, floods, oil prices, financial speculation – but not the obvious one: the continuing creation of unbacked money by central banks around the world. As Milton Friedman said, “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.” And as Jerry O’Driscoll wrote just two weeks ago, about rising food prices, “Inflation is here.” But that point isn’t yet universally understood, at least not at our government radio network. Anyway, I turned off... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4419121 Mon, 31 Jan 2011 14:20:21 +0100 4419121 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4405727&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F01%2Fmaking-their-numbers-examples-of.html Last week, we discussed how the large incentives for pharmaceutical executives to meet short term financial targets (that is, "making their numbers") may be an important cause of their firms' decreasing capacity to fulfill their most basic mission, manufacturing pure, unadulterated medicines.  In the news recently were two examples of how other health care leaders are incentivized to meet short-term financial targets.University of CaliforniaThe first, and bigger example appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. First, note that the University of California system is currently in dire shape:Finances are so dire at the University of California that it might have to turn away qualified students,....Also,UC President Mark Yudof told the regents that UC will need to close a $1 billion budge... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4405727 Thu, 27 Jan 2011 21:03:00 +0100 4405727 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4382748&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FoF7XF-mu_R0%2F By Ilya ShapiroAs Caleb noted earlier, today marks the one-year anniversary of Citizens United, a case I first thought ”just” concerned some weird regulation of pay-per-view movies, but turned out to be about asserted government power to ban political speech — including books and TV commercials — simply because the speaker was not one individual but a group (in corporate or or other associational form).  See also this op-ed by ACLU lawyer Joel Gora. Roger similarly noted the continuing discussion in Congress and elsewhere about the public financing of elections.  As it turns out, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to such a system, specifically Arizona’s Clean Elections Act.  Brought by our friends at the Institute for Justice and the Goldwat... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4382748 Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:10:56 +0100 4382748 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4382753&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FXLjjuuNZ2XY%2F By Roger PilonToday POLITICO Arena asks: Would the House plan to vote next week on a proposal to end the system of financing presidential candidates and national conventions with federal funds wisely put to rest a public financing scheme that never worked well, or would it eliminate a bulwark against political corruption by forcing candidates to rely entirely on private money? My response: The decades long effort by the Left to finance presidential candidates and national conventions with federal funds — part of the Left’s more ambitious effort to finance all political campaigns with public funds — never worked as proponents hoped it would, with taxpayer participation through check-offs declining from 28.7 percent in 1980 to 7.3 percent in 2009 — and for good r... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4382753 Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:45:52 +0100 4382753 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4377558&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FUrfJNoB1IH0%2F By Mark A. CalabriaChinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Washington brought renewed focus on China’s currency.  It was likely the largest point of discussion between President Obama and President Hu.  I suspect a less public, but related, issue was China looking for some certainty that America would make good on its obligations; after all, China is our largest lender. What is often missed is the connection between these two issues:  currency and debt.  When China receives dollars for the many goods it sells us, instead of recycling those dollars into the purchase of US goods, it uses that money mostly to buy US Treasuries and Agencies (Fannie/Freddie securities).  These large Treasury/Agency purchases (foreign holdings of GSE debt are over $1 trillion) have the effect of... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4377558 Thu, 20 Jan 2011 16:26:17 +0100 4377558 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4372030&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F0DSsNtrMm3M%2F By Mark A. CalabriaThe thing that probably bothers me most about “consumer protection” in the financial area is the obsession with banning products, or characteristics, that sound bad, but that are actually beneficial to consumers.  An example of such is the prepayment penalty. Basically a prepayment penalty is a fee the borrower pays if they pay off their mortgage early.  The usual reaction from “consumer advocates” is “that’s horrible” — why should someone have to pay in order to re-finance or get out of their mortgage.  Or that the prepayment penalty would make it difficult for the borrower to take advantage of lower rates or an improvement in their credit.  A new NBER working paper lays out the case of why prepayment penalties are act... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4372030 Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:19:56 +0100 4372030 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4360952&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FTrbQOCPsiOY%2F By Ted Galen CarpenterChinese President Hu Jintao arrives in Washington today for a summit meeting with President Obama following spats over economic and military issues that have created a chill in bilateral relations. This follows Secretary Gates’s visit just last week to Beijing for discussions with Defense Ministry officials. On the Huffington Post, I have a piece that looks at the current state of U.S.-China relations in the context of these visits: “The process of repairing [the U.S.-China relationship] appears to be off to a rocky start. A key objective of Secretary Gates was to get China’s military leadership to agree to a wide-ranging dialogue on strategic issues, including nuclear weapons, ballistic missile defenses, space weapons, and cyber warfare. His hosts rebu... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4360952 Tue, 18 Jan 2011 20:41:56 +0100 4360952 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4360961&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fhawc3g-lwJo%2F By Daniel J. MitchellI’m not a big fan of the Internal Revenue Service, but I try not to demonize the bureaucrats because politicians actually deserve most of the blame for America’s complex, unfair, and corrupt tax system. The IRS generally is in the unenviable position of simply trying to enforce very bad laws. But sometimes the IRS runs amok and the agency deserves to be held in contempt by the American people Let’s look at a grotesque example of IRS misbehavior. It deals with a seemingly arcane issue, but it has big implications for the US economy, the rule of law, and human rights. On January 7, the tax-collection bureaucracy proposed a regulation that, if implemented, would force American financial institutions to put foreign tax law above US tax law. Banks would be require... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4360961 Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:44:54 +0100 4360961 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4343110&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F1n2Mnzis_NA%2F By Mark A. CalabriaA common rationale for federal policies to expand homeownership is the desire to reduce observed racial differences in homeownership.  Receiving the most attention has been the gap in homeownership rates between white households and African-American.  The current homeownership rate for whites is 76.5%  (2007), while that for African-Americans is 54%, leaving a gap of 22.5%. Limitations on available data have made observations prior to 1940 difficult (1940 was the first “Census of Housing”).  A new working paper adds to our understanding by constructing a time series back to 1870, using previous Census data.  The findings are quite surprising. In 1870 the gap between white and African-American homeownership rates stood at an astonishing 48.8 percent.  ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4343110 Fri, 14 Jan 2011 02:38:27 +0100 4343110 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4337910&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F24rUiPX5-5w%2F By Mark A. CalabriaAn oft heard explanation for some of the weakness facing our economy, particularly investment and hiring, is that firms are concerned about policy uncertainty coming from Washington, be it health care, financial regulation, labor regulation, etc.  For the most part, those arguments have been based upon anecdote or theory (see Bernanke’s 1983 QJE piece), with some difficulty finding strong empirical support either way.  A forthcoming paper in the Journal of Finance helps to shed some light on the question, by providing more generalized estimates of the impact of electoral uncertainty on investment decisions. The authors examine whether elections, particularly those that are close, have an impact on corporate investment.  The logic behind the research: “if a... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4337910 Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:48:01 +0100 4337910 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4337920&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FDkwGhT5SrxA%2F By Mark A. CalabriaMIT Professor Simon Johnson recently argued that Bill Daley’s appointment as Obama’s Chief of Staff signals that “too big to fail,” as it relates to our largest financial institutions, is here to stay.  Personally I never thought it was in doubt.  With Geithner at Treasury and Dodd-Frank further codifiying “too big to fail,” its been clear for some time that the bailout net is larger than it’s ever been, and is not being pulled back.  That said, Professor Johnson’s focus on Daley distracts from the real issue, which is changing our bank regulatory structure to end bailouts.  The focus on Daley has the potential to lead us down that path of “if we just had the right people in government…”  We shouldn&#... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4337920 Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:53:09 +0100 4337920 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4324910&cid=t_95523_180_f&fid=38612&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpickthebrain%2FLYVv%2F%7E3%2Fbl8IGPt0U04%2F Let’s face it; many people would love to be rich. Few people wouldn’t want to jet set around the world traveling, attend the most coveted premieres, drive their dream cars, lavish gifts upon their love ones, etc. However, there is limited value in even thinking about riches until you can become and stay financially solvent. Solvency isn’t about income. No matter whether you make $40,000 a year or $400,000 a year, you can still be broke. Solvency is simply your ability to meet your entire financial obligations with some money to spare. It is the degree to which your current assets exceed your current liabilities. Solvency exists on a continuum. For example, some define their ability to meet obligations as being able to afford their credit cards, student loans, and car payments. Noneth... PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4324910 Sat, 08 Jan 2011 07:17:47 +0100 4324910 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4313989&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPremGoVsvgM%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThe news is going from bad to worse for Ireland. The Irish Independent is reporting that the Swiss Central Bank no longer will accept Irish government bonds as collateral. The story also notes that one of the world’s largest bond firms, PIMCO, is no longer purchasing debt issued by the Irish government. And this is happening even though (or perhaps because?) Ireland received a big bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (and the IMF’s involvement means American taxpayers are picking up part of the tab). I’ve already commented on Ireland’s woes, and opined about similar problems afflicting the rest of Europe, but the continuing deterioration of the Emerald Isle deserves further analysis so that American policy makers h... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4313989 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 17:47:36 +0100 4313989 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4313991&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Faw60fC-0PNA%2F By Mark A. CalabriaAfter proponents of the Federal Reserve’s second round of quantitative easing (QE2) abandoned the argument that QE2 would spur growth by bringing down interest rates (only after rates increased), the new defense became “we intended for rates to go up all along, as a result of increased inflation expectations.”  Since few would argue for increased inflation, or expectations of such, as an end in itself, the claim was that increases in inflation expectations would drive households to consume more, which would in turn causes businesses to hire more, bringing down the unemployment rate.  But does this chain of reasoning withstand empirical scrutiny? It turns out looking at the historical data on inflation expectations, as collected at the University of ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4313991 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:08:01 +0100 4313991 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4309591&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fi3nv6xvoctA%2F By Mark A. CalabriaSince the financial crisis, “deregulation” has become a catch-all phrase for everything that went wrong in our financial markets.  Unfortunately said deregulation is rarely ever explained, but is rather asserted.  To truly inform policy debates, discussions must center on specific instances of deregulation.  One such example of banking deregulation that did actually occur was the The Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994 (imagine that, a Democrat Congress and a Democrat President deregulating the banking industry).  The heart of Riegle-Neal was to remove barriers to interstate branching.  A recent article in the Journal of Finance looks at the impact of bank branching deregulation on the distribution of income across U.S. St... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4309591 Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:04:36 +0100 4309591 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4309594&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fni34kGjT7tk%2F By Gerald P. O'DriscollThe New Year is likely to bring renewal of financial problems in the European Union. In Greece, the crisis was fiscal in origin and spread to Greek banks and banks in other countries that had lent to Greek banks and the Greek government. In Ireland, the crisis began with problem real-estate loans at Irish banks. That spread to European banks, mainly British, that had lent to Irish banks. In its year-end issue, the Economist reminds us of the 2008 banking crisis in Iceland.  The Icelandic government responded much differently in that crisis than did the Irish government to its banking crisis. Iceland let its banks go under and to some extent stiffed their creditors. It did so out of necessity. Banking assets there were 10 times the country’s GDP, while they ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4309594 Mon, 03 Jan 2011 20:46:26 +0100 4309594 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4295034&cid=t_95523_180_f&fid=38612&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpickthebrain%2FLYVv%2F%7E3%2FY7WnUxfe6U8%2F Whether you’re deep in debt or just having a few financial hiccups, it’s almost certainly the case that you’re spending more than you’re making. A lot of personal finance writers will advise you to cut your expenditure. Eat out less often, downgrade your cable package, stop buying pricy coffees, and so on. There’s a strong focus on getting rid of unnecessary, day-to-day spending – sometimes dubbed “the Latte Factor” (a term coined by financial adviser David Bach). Wise Geek explains it like this: The Latte Factor® is a euphemistic label for all that extra money we spend daily on nonessentials such as candy, bottled water, doughnuts, muffins, soda, cigarettes, magazines, newspapers, and yes, lattes. It’s good advice, as far as it goes. Da... PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4295034 Mon, 27 Dec 2010 06:40:50 +0100 4295034 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4294584&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F12%2Fblogscan-charels-ferguson-inside-job.html On the Naked Capitalism blog, there is a video clip of an interview with Charles Ferguson, who directed Inside Job (see this post).  It is highly recommended, if as disturbing as the movie.  Look for the parallels with health care, and think about how the health care crisis is interlinked with the global financial crisis.  See the movie if you haven't already. (Source: Health Care Renewal) Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4294584 Fri, 24 Dec 2010 20:11:00 +0100 4294584 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4287386&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F12%2Fblogscan-charels-ferguson-inside-job.html On the Naked Capitalism blog, there is a video clip of an interview with Charles Ferguson, who directed Inside Job (see this post).  It is highly recommended, if as disturbing as the movie.  Look for the parallels with health care, and think about how the health care crisis is interlinked with the global financial crisis.  See the movie if you haven't already. (Source: Health Care Renewal) Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4287386 Fri, 24 Dec 2010 20:11:00 +0100 4287386 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4285185&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F31i8jvdjJy8%2F By Mark A. CalabriaJust in time for the holidays, the Congressional Budget Office has released its analysis of the costs and benefits of various alternatives to our current system of mortgage finance, particularly the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The report examines three possibilities: A hybrid public/private model in which the government provides explicit guarantees on privately issued mortgages or MBSs; A fully public model in which a wholly federal entity would guarantee qualifying mortgages or MBSs; or A fully private model in which there would be no special federal backing for the secondary mortgage market. The report doesn’t really push one option over another, but simply lays out the advantages and disadvantages of each.  Some highlights worth keeping in mind as th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4285185 Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:52:03 +0100 4285185 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4265676&cid=t_95523_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FdlT-0rOnbDE%2F By Mark A. CalabriaWhile listening to NPR this morning, I was subjected to yet another economist claiming that we cannot have inflation in an environment of such high economic slack.  Setting aside the fact that perhaps this economist missed the 1970s, this is a vital question to examine, because it is the foundation of so much of Bernanke and the Federal Reserve’s current thinking.  That is, the notion that inflation is always and everywhere the result of an over-heating, or excess demand, economy. One of the measures commonly followed by the Fed, and others of the slack-restrains-inflation school, is the measure of capacity utilization rate.  Setting aside some of the problems with this measure, are increases in capacity utilization associated with increasing inflation, as w... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4265676 Fri, 17 Dec 2010 20:22:26 +0100 4265676