The Obama Revolution

Monetary policy twenty-five years after October 1979 - Remarks by Chairman Alan Greenspan

Tax Rates of the Rich and Poor

In light of the current administration's decision to increase taxes on the "wealthy" we should ask how much tax the "wealthy" are paying now relative to less wealthy people. The answer may surprise you.

A Radical Presidency - WSJ

Daniel Henninger Says Barack Obama Will Radically Bind Americans to Government - WSJ.com

Obama's Straw Men - WSJ

"Why does he routinely ascribe to opponents views they don't espouse?"

The Problem With 'Nationalization'

How the GOP Should Approach TARP 2.0

"The grave threat of the next TARP is that it will set in motion a downward spiral, beginning with government-imposed conditions diminishing corporate profitability, which in turn could necessitate another injection of taxpayer money, along with further government conditions. This, on top of the vast sums of nonstimulative spending just enacted, will be a drag on economic growth. It's a slippery slope that Republicans must oppose from the outset."

A Fatal Trajectory

I am not as pessimistic as Sowell, for theological reasons, but his argument is worth thinking about.

Volcker: Not Cheering for ‘a Little Inflation’

A Short History of the National Debt - WSJ

"Deficits are nothing new. It's the trend that should worry us."

How Democracy Ruined the Bailout - WSJ

"Getting politics involved was Bernanke and Paulson's biggest mistake."

Great Depression Lesson

Interview with the author of the new book, "New Deal or Raw Deal?" This is an interesting evaluation of the economic effects of government policy during the 1930s.

Obama's Rhetoric Is the Real 'Catastrophe'

Bradley Schiller Says Barack Obama Should Stop Comparing Our Financial Crisis With the Great Depression - WSJ.com. "In 1932, automobile production shriveled by 90%."

Drop in food consumption

"In 2008's fourth quarter, consumer spending on food fell at an inflation-adjusted 3.7% from the third quarter, according to data from the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis. That is the steepest decline in the 62 years the government has compiled the figure."

Thomas Sowell : What Are They Buying? - Townhall.com

Reaganomics vs. Obamanomics

"The current president wants higher taxes, more regulation, more spending and loose money."

Does everyone agree that the economy needs a "stimulus?"

Harvard economist Robert Barro being interviewed on the stimulus bill by the Atlantic:

Barro: This is probably the worst bill that has been put forward since the 1930s. I don't know what to say. I mean it's wasting a tremendous amount of money. It has some simplistic theory that I don't think will work, so I don't think the expenditure stuff is going to have the intended effect. I don't think it will expand the economy. And the tax cutting isn't really geared toward incentives. It's not really geared to lowering tax rates; it's more along the lines of throwing money at people. On both sides I think it's garbage. So in terms of balance between the two it doesn't really matter that much.

Atlantic: Well, presumably Larry Summers is not an idiot.

Barro: [laughs] That is another conversation. I have known him for 25 years, and I have opinions about that.

Atlantic: Well, presumably Christina Romer is not an idiot if you're . . .

Barro: They've brought in some reasonable people in terms of economic advisers. I don't know what impact they're having, and I suppose they have different views on Keynesian macroeconomics than I have. But I'm giving you my opinion about it.

There's No Stimulus Free Lunch

"It's hard to spend wise and spend fast."

Government Intervention, Not the Lehman Collapse, Caused the Financial Crisis - WSJ.com

"Research shows the failure to rescue Lehman did not trigger the fall panic."

Efforts to limit pay of the wealthiest gained traction in the 1930s; 'economic royalists'

"Efforts to limit pay of the wealthiest gained traction in the 1930s; 'economic royalists'"

Comparing this recession to past recessions

'Stimulus' Will Mean Inflation - WSJ.com

"In a global downturn the Fed will have to print money to meet our obligations."

Washington Could Use Less John Meynard Keynes and More Friedrich Hayek - WSJ.com

"The late Austrian economist offered good reasons to be skeptical of government action."

Charlie Crist, Taxpayers and the Next Hurricane - WSJ.com

Charlie Crist, taxpayers and the next hurricane.

What Other Financial Crises Tell Us

The lesson of history is grim: Expect a prolonged slump.

How Government Prolonged the Depression - WSJ.com