Daily Archives: June 1, 2012

Keynesians believe government spending cuts hurt the economy. Hence the arguments against “austerity” measures. (As an aside, one wonders what those who lived through the Great Depression and World War II think about today’s so-called austerity plans.) Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute put the Keynesians’ argument to the test (as documented by theContinue Reading

Bless you, James Pethokoukis. Look at all his additions to the Obama administration’s 2009 graph showing its predicted unemployment picture with and without the stimulus plan:   This chart from CalculatedRisk, to which Pethokoukis linked, is rather alarming:   Pethokoukis is updating his post throughout the day. Be sure to check back.

A typical article today: WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Job growth braked sharply in May and the unemployment rate rose for the first time since June, putting pressure on the Federal Reserve to ease monetary policy further to shore up the sputtering recovery. The Labor Department report on Friday, which showed employers added a paltry 69,000 jobsContinue Reading

Yesterday, News & Observer education reporter Keung Hui wrote extensively about a Wake County Board of Education discussion of magnet schools and student achievement.  He linked to a huge collection of data and charts that detailed student performance and demographics at elementary, middle, high, and alternative schools in Wake County.  If you are into “thatContinue Reading

By now most people have heard that NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg is proposing that the city government ban sugared soft drinks sold at restaurants that come in larger than 16 oz. servings. No surprise really, there seems to be no freedom that Bloomberg is not willing to restrict in order to impose his vision ofContinue Reading

Deroy Murdock‘s latest column highlights the problems created when regulators regulate. When EPA, FCC, and OSHA staffers go to work, they regulate. If, instead, they cruised Facebook, bought novels on Amazon, or enjoyed Internet pornography (as SEC employees were caught doing) they would neglect their taxpayer-funded duties. So, these functionaries occupy their desks and concoctContinue Reading

• Democratic Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, who’s running for governor, offers much tamer criticism of the Republican budget than Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue, who isn’t.     • Republican Secretary of State candidate Ed Goodwin gets the endorsement of former rival A.J. Daoud for the July 17 runoff.   • Fox News’ John Roberts saysContinue Reading

Jonah Goldberg‘s latest column for National Review Online examines the demise of the “green revolution.” In January, the Spanish government ended absurdly lavish subsidies for its renewable-energy industry, and the renewable-energy industry all but imploded. You could say it was never a renewable-energy industry at all. It was a government-subsidy industry where in exchange forContinue Reading