During the height of the recession, right-wingers tried with some success to make a big deal out of public sector compensation. The depressed economy led to lower government revenues and thus deficits. Conservatives seized the moment to pretend that the deficits were really caused by sky-high public employee compensation. While that claim was obviously false,… Continue reading Some federal employees have higher incomes than private sector counterparts
What the housing bubble teaches us about political events
Within political journalism and perhaps the public at large, analysis often proceeds on the assumption that political events have the capacity to swing public opinion. So when things like the death of Osama Bin Laden, the debt-ceiling deal, or the housing crisis happen, reporters contemplate how the public’s reaction will affect voter sentiment. But this… Continue reading What the housing bubble teaches us about political events
Ron Paul is exactly like other politicians
The fans of Ron Paul often describe him as a principled man. Unlike other politicians who swing with the wind and pander, Paul sticks to his guns and says what he means. Or so the story goes. When stories about Ron Paul’s decade-long racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, and otherwise disgusting newsletter surfaced, the Ron Paul supporters… Continue reading Ron Paul is exactly like other politicians
The complicated and confusing Buffett Rule
The New York Times ran a piece about some of the hurdles facing the adoption of President Obama’s new tax rule dubbed the Buffett Rule. The idea for the Buffett Rule comes from the fact that investors who make their money primarily through capital gains pay much lower tax rates than a great number of… Continue reading The complicated and confusing Buffett Rule
Using copyright debates to understand conservative economic philosophies
The three philosophical frameworks that conservative intellectuals tend to rely on are desert theory, utilitarianism, and procedural justice. Desert theory emphasizes the construction of an economy that awards each economic actor what they deserve, which conservatives usually define in terms of productivity. Utilitarians insist that the economy should be structured in a way that maximizes… Continue reading Using copyright debates to understand conservative economic philosophies