Assorted Links (11/13/2010)

Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading lately:

2010 Redistricting: To the Mapmaker Go Limited Political Spoils – The Numbers Guy

blogs.wsj.com

“Why Republicans’ edge in the control of Congressional redistricting after the 2010 election may not translate into massive House seat pickups.”

Whose Corporate Social Responsibility? – Jagdish Bhagwati’s Blog

blogs.the-american-interest.com

“Increasingly, corporations are under pressure, often from activist non-governmental organizations, to take on specific “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) obligations. But the fact that CSR is being demanded, and occasionally conceded, does not ensure clarity about either its rationale or the ways in which it should be undertaken.”

Fairly Understanding the Simpson-Bowles Social Security Proposal

www.economics21.org

“Co-chairs Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles of President Obama’s Fiscal Responsibility Commission surprised the political world Wednesday when they publicly released their own (as opposed to a full commission) five-part plan for repairing the federal government’s dire fiscal outlook.”

Beware Commissions Bearing Gifts

www.realclearmarkets.com

“Fiscal Solutions: Though timid, some of the ideas floated by the co-chairmen of President Obama’s “deficit commission” are praiseworthy. But is this a bait-and-switch – to be followed by destructive new taxes?”

The 77% of Income Fallacy

www.realclearmarkets.com

“When Congress returns next week for a “lame-duck,” post-election session, Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D-Nev) will try to muster the 60 votes he needs to block a filibuster of a vote on the misnamed Paycheck Fairness Act. It would be better titled the Paycheck Rareness Act, because it would make paychecks rare by driving small firms out of business and sending larger corporations overseas.”

America’s Employment and Growth Challenges by Michael Spence

www.project-syndicate.org

“Elevated savings and reduced consumption relative to pre-crisis levels are likely to be permanent in the US, even after households reduce leverage and restore retirement savings. To make up the difference, Americans must focus on competing effectively for a portion of global demand.”

80 to 100 Million Could Lose Current Coverage

us1.campaign-archive.com

“An analyst from McKinsey & Company knocked the socks off insurance company executives yesterday when she told them the new health law will bring “fundamental disruption to the health care economy” — so much so that “something in the range of 80 to 100 million individuals are going to change coverage categories in the two years post-2014.”

A President At Bay – Walter Russell Mead’s Blog

blogs.the-american-interest.com

“No president in my lifetime has fallen from heaven to earth as rapidly as President Obama. Others have lost popularity and lost control of Congress, but none fell from such a height. Who can forget the rapturous cries of joy when he was elected in 2008? Who can forget all those predictions of a ‘transformational presidency,’ hailing the one term Senator from Illinois as a new Lincoln, a new FDR, and (my personal favorite) the ‘Democratic Reagan’?”

Federal Eye – Postal Service posts $8.5 billion loss

washingtonpost.com

“The cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service delivered more bad news Friday, announcing it lost $8.5 billion in the fiscal year that ended in September. Without congressional action to change its obligations, officials said, the Postal Service likely will go broke at the end of fiscal 2011.”

Kimberley Strassel: The GOP’s Earmark No-Brainer

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Potomac Watch columnist Kimberley Strassel writes that Sen. Jim DeMint is offering Republicans a chance to prove they meant what they said on spending.”

Peggy Noonan: Obama’s Gifts to the GOP – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan writes that Republicans own the political center for now, but not because they deserve it.”

Arthur Laffer: A Growth Agenda for the New Congress

online.wsj.com

“What Congress should do now and in 2012 to spur growth in the economy.”

Daniel Henninger: The 1099 Democrats

online.wsj.com

“Daniel Henninger writes in The Wall Street Journal that the Democrats decoupled from business—and lost the election.”

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