...and hates American car owners. Over at In These Times, the President of the United Steelworkers International union, Leo Gerard, is praising President Obama for propping up politically connected businesses, although that's not quite how he puts it: President Barack Obama...has given some love to American car companies and American car workers. He also gave them many … [Read more...] about “Obama Loves American Car Workers”
Economics
Romney’s Disturbing Ignorance About the American Economy
The left has been going wild over Mitt Romney's "47%" comment, and for good reason. What they may not realize is that a fair number of people on the free-market right aren't too happy with it either, because it shows shocking ignorance of how the American economy works. Steve Chapman has a takedown of Mitt Romney today which describes the problem pretty well. The angry folks on … [Read more...] about Romney’s Disturbing Ignorance About the American Economy
Mega Millions Breakeven?
For those interested in the numbers, the Mega Millions jackpot stands at $540 million. That's the estimated nominal value of the annuity payout over 25 years (26 payments, the first one is immediate and the rest are at the end of the year). That annunity is calculated based on the current cash prize pool of $389 million. If you won that cash prize, the federal government's … [Read more...] about Mega Millions Breakeven?
The More I Learn About the Mortgage Crisis, the Less I Know
I'm reading Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner. It's an account of the collapse of the subprime mortgage market at the beginning of our current economic mess. The book tells the story at an odd level of detail: It doesn't give a lot of details about the characters and … [Read more...] about The More I Learn About the Mortgage Crisis, the Less I Know
Death to Pennies
Here's something I never thought about before: It's time to stop using pennies. Aside from its actual subject -- the uselessness of pennies -- this video is also worth watching because it's a terrific example of how to make an argument. It's clear, it's concise, and in four minutes and 31 seconds I went from not thinking about pennies to being completely convinced they … [Read more...] about Death to Pennies