I was reading the National Review’s endorsement of Romney hoping for a laugh. It wasn’t very funny, but one line triggered in my mind a thought I had been meaning to write down for a while. The author at one point references “the traditional American preference for free markets and limited government.” Whatever one thinks… Continue reading What is limited government?
Author: Matt Bruenig
The rise of income inequality since 1917
I needed to prepare this graph for another project I am working on, and so I figured I would share it here too. The numbers for this graph come from the famed Piketty-Saez market income data set. I’ve simply indexed income to 100 at 1917. For those not familiar with these kinds of charts, the… Continue reading The rise of income inequality since 1917
Turns out that poverty is still really bad
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
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