Is Obama's Populist Rage Valid?

President Obama used his bully pulpit on Thursday to chastise banks and bankers while announcing a punitive tax on them to assuage an angry populace. Is his rage against the big paydays justified? Not for the reasons he [...]

Dear Econophile: Advice For the Economic-lorn

I get a number of e-mails from readers seeking advice, usually investment advice. I politely advise them that I do not give investment advice. Last year I received messages of a theme that can be described as folks who felt The Great Collapse was happening. Armageddon and that type of thing.

Here is some correspondence I [...]

Is the Economy Recovering? The Curious Case of 1920 vs. 1929

By Jeff Harding.

In order to understand the present state of the U.S. economy you have to understand that there are two things happening at once. For the most part they are in conflict with each other, in that one track can negatively impact the other.

Lest I be accused of putting out conflicting information, there is evidence that [...]

Q3 GDP: Proceed At Risk

By Jeff Harding.

The Commerce Department announced Thursday that GDP grew 3.5% in Q3 2009. This is the “Third Quarter Bump” I had been expecting.

Economists and the news media are jumping on the “It’s Over!” bandwagon. Their conclusion is based on the premise that government spending (“stimulus”) will actually create real economic growth. It won’t and never [...]

The Smartest Guys in the Room, Part 2

By Jeff Harding

This is a compilation of film clips of Ben Bernanke making various prognostications as the financial crisis unfolded and he is shown to be embarrassingly wrong. What I think you will see from this video is that Ben is just another economist who looks to the future by incrementally adjusting from past data without seeing [...]

Who is Barack Obama?

Like most pragmatists he can say one thing and do another.     

I’m trying to figure Barack Obama out. He says that he has an open administration and that he is willing to work with everyone to see “what works.” Yet in his Inaugural Address he says the debate about large versus [...]

Republicans Propose Nationalization of US Mortgage Market

Another Example of the Law of Unintended Consequences

I listened to the well meaning Republican senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky propose government mortgage lending to homeowners at below market interest rates. Like many Republicans he advocates “curing” the housing market as the way to revive the economy.

“Most people recognize that housing is at the root of the [...]