Gallup is out with new data on the correlation of poverty to other problems. It turns out that poverty is actually really bad. Stunning I know. There is lots of great data in the Gallup release, including two questions on healthy food affordability and consumption, a topic that seems to be really popular these days… Continue reading Turns out that poverty is still really bad
Author: Matt Bruenig
Apparently no one ever creates any jobs
Mitt Romney stirred the pot in the last debate with the always vague bromide that government does not create jobs. A few notables have commented on this statement — Karl Smith and Paul Krugman among them. I have absolutely no idea what this means, but it’s stupid on just about any level you can imagine.… Continue reading Apparently no one ever creates any jobs
It’s not your money
Among sophisticated arguers, outright contradiction is not common. It is too easy to spot, and therefore both easy and necessary to avoid. Instead of contradiction, what often plagues the arguments of the sophisticated is question begging. That is, individuals will assume as an unstated premise the very conclusion they are arguing towards. In normative debates… Continue reading It’s not your money
Do red states really have high abortion rates?
I have often seen people claim that red states have fairly high abortion rates. The goal of this claim is apparently to paint red states as hypocrites about abortion, which I think is supposed to score a rhetorical point in favor of abortion access. I am not totally sure. Nonetheless, the claim is not really… Continue reading Do red states really have high abortion rates?
Garett Jones’ confused idea
Garett Jones has a really bad post at econlib. And I mean really bad. Jones seems to think he has hit upon something really clever by analyzing the income effect and substitution effect in a way that is sensitive to the resulting government spending. For those unfamiliar, the income effect refers to the way taxes… Continue reading Garett Jones’ confused idea