We've Been Here Before

Ronald Dworkin in the New York Times Review of Books.

Worrying About the Wrong Thing

One hopes that the perpetrators of current economic policy will be be called to answer for their idiocy. Did no one pay attention in Econ 101? Mark Thoma comments.

Happy Fourth of July--the USA Is not a Simple Concept

Today no one seems to want to wrestle with the complex organism that is the United States of America. On the one hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War some people want to believe the fiction that secession was not about slavery, when a simple reading of the articles of secession published by every southern state say that it was almost entirely about slavery. Likewise some of the simple-minded politicians want to pretend that the Constitution was the highest statement of what the USA is (even while they want to pass amendments regarding things as mundane as a balanced budget because our politicians can't do their jobs).

It's often hilarious to listen to uneducated politicians, some of whom seek the highest office in the land, fracture American history. From Paul Revere's ride to the most recent offering on the Constitution and slavery. Every school child should know that the Constitution defined Negro slaves as property--property equal to three fifths of a white citizen for the purposes of measuring population for elections. Slaves as property were a sort of quasi-human in a way that other property was not. It took another eighty-nine years for the USA to live up to the Declaration of Independence and make the slave population people equal (in theory) to the white population.

Here's Mark Byrnes take on the latest historical faux pas by a ignorant presidential candidate. This would be funny if Michelle Bachmann wasn't actually considered a viable candidate for president.

New Music on the Left

A Canadian group I'd never heard before.

Rick Perry for President?

If he runs, he'll be exposed as the governor without any clothes. Here's a summary from the New Republic. The "economic miracle" that is Texas relies on stimulus money and a set of intrusive regulations that prevented a housing bubble. Plus lucky geography--all that oil and gas.

What's the Real Gain from Pain?

From an article by Paul Krugman in Slate, January 15, 1999. Krugman was way out in front of most commentators, mainly because he understands economic theory and economic history.

In short, in Japan today--and perhaps in the United States tomorrow--behind many of the arguments about why we can't monetize our way out of a recession lies the belief that pain is good, that it builds a stronger economy. Well, let Keynes have the last word: "It is a grave criticism of our way of managing our economic affairs, that this should seem to anyone like a reasonable proposal."

Krugman's Record on Economic Predictions

The key things here--for me at least--is that Paul Krugman has not only been right about these important issues, but that he has a theory that explains why he's been right. The other side has tried to use proof by assertion and denial of the facts to support their case. Theory allows us to explain why things happened the way they did and helps us predict the outcomes for various policies. If you don't have a workable theory, you are just making assertions (emphatic guesses).

Where Is the Line in the Sand?

Will the approaching election year create the need for action in the Obama White House? Or do the same spineless advisors still have his ear? If you look at the issues that caused the Republicans to walk out of deficit reduction talks, you can clearly see whose side they're on--and it's not ours. Here's Krugman's take. Republicans deserve to be pilloried for the way they are handling the deficit/debt limit talks.

Five Books

I particularly like the quote: "“There’s an age when boys read one of two books. Either they read Ayn Rand or they read Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. One of these books leaves you with no grasp on reality and a deeply warped sense of fantasy in place of real life. The other one is about hobbits and orcs.” More from Krugman.

The Pecora Hearings

Oh how I wish for the second coming of Ferdinand Pecora, although it's not likely with Richard Shelby on the Senate Banking Committee. Some historical review.