Because the next academic semester is beginning, I will not be able to post as frequently. During this break, I posted quite a bit of content and tacked on a significant number of new followers and rss subscribers thanks largely to George Monbiot’s piece in the Guardian. To those newcomers, I just wanted to give… Continue reading Another content slowdown
The endless struggle for ownership of “economic freedom”
The Heritage Foundation recently put out its 2012 Index of Economic Freedom. Like a lot of what Heritage puts out, its annual Index of Economic Freedom is exceedingly strange. Countries are assigned — without any coherent method — scores from 0 to 100 in categories like Labor Freedom, Business Freedom, Government Spending, and Property Rights.… Continue reading The endless struggle for ownership of “economic freedom”
Strategic bankruptcies: students vs. private equity firms
While Mitt Romney was the head of Bain Capital, the firm purchased a company called Worldwide Grinding Systems. What happened next is precisely the kind of finance “innovation” that Romney’s opponents have been criticizing. Bain Capital put up $8 million to buy the company, then loaded it down with hundreds of millions of dollars of… Continue reading Strategic bankruptcies: students vs. private equity firms
Romney proves my thesis about class envy accusations correct
I do not usually write posts like this, but this one is too hard to pass up. I published this article on January 10th about the right-wing class envy arguments. Relevant excerpt: What the conservatives call envy, the leftists call a yearning for equality. What those who scoff at envy really seek to do is… Continue reading Romney proves my thesis about class envy accusations correct
Notes on increasing age qualifications for Medicare and Social Security
The CBO released a brief earlier this week about the budgetary impacts of raising the eligibility age for Medicare and Social Security. As anyone would expect, raising the qualifying age for either program will reduce government outlays. Raising the Medicare eligibility age by two years will reduce government outlays on the program by 5 percent.… Continue reading Notes on increasing age qualifications for Medicare and Social Security