Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading lately:
Why the Budget Agreement is a Game Changer
advancingafreesociety.org
“The budget agreement that emerged from last week’s negotiations literally changes the direction of federal spending. As the chart shows the Obama Administration’s proposed increase in discretionary spending for 2011 has been reversed in the course of the negotiations into an actual decrease in discretionary spending. A year ago the Administration’s budget called for an increase in discretionary spending of about $39 billion. Remarkably the agreement calls for a decrease of about the same amount. No one could have predicted such a turn around one year ago.”
Review & Outlook: The Internet Tax Mirage
professional.wsj.com
“The Wall Street Journal writes that politicians are trying to drive online commerce—and revenue—out of state.”
economist.com
“RISING debt and lost output are the common measures of the cost of the financial crisis. But a new global opinion poll shows another, perhaps more serious form of damage: falling public support for capitalism.”
How to Get a Real Education at College
online.wsj.com
“Forget art history and calculus. Most students need to learn how to run a business, says Dilbert creator Scott Adams.”
Incentives or grade-selling? Line blurred in Sacramento-area cases, critics say
sacbee.com
“Schools eager to show their smarts or raise money often give students incentives to do well on tests or participate in fundraisers. Many students can earn T-shirts or toys by raising money.”
Henninger: A Ronald Reagan Budget – WSJ.com
online.wsj.com
“In The Wall Street Journal, Wonder Land columnist Dan Henninger writes that Paul Ryan’s budget offers much more than deficit-reduction brimstone.”
Would Ike Have Gone to Libya?
online.wsj.com
“American foreign policy has come to favor action over moderation, Peggy Noonan writes.”
Confessions of an Investor
creditwritedowns.com
“When models turn on, brains turn off.”
27% of communication by members of Congress is taunting, professor concludes
washingtonpost.com
“Here’s a statistic that may explain the budget impasse: A professor has concluded members spend 27 percent of their time just taunting one another.”
voxeu.org
“Over the last three decades the US financial sector has grown six times faster than nominal GDP. This column argues that there comes a point when the financial sector has a negative effect on growth – that is, when credit to the private sector exceeds 110% of GDP. It shows that, of the advanced countries currently suffering in the fallout of the global crisis were all above this threshold.”
Serious policy differences are not petty politics
keithhennessey.com
“The President is arguing that those who disagree with his policies are engaged in politics. They are, he argues, motivated not by a well-intentioned difference of opinion about how to improve America, but instead by selfish motives.”
Democrats Are Appalled By Paul Ryan’s Budget Plan — So Where’s Their Plan?
businessinsider.com
“Denial is not a strategy.”
Here’s an Unlike.ly Tale: Gadhafi Does Swimming.ly on the Internet
online.wsj.com
“Where have the U.N., NATO and U.S. Air Force directed Twitter followers to learn more about military action in Libya? To an Internet domain controlled by the regime of Col. Moammar Gadhafi.”
A Shovel Cuts Off Armenia’s Internet
online.wsj.com
“Georgia has arrested a 75-year-old woman who, with her shovel, left all of Armenia without access to the Internet for half a day, according to Georgian police.”
The Logic of Cutting Corporate Taxes
www.nytimes.com
“Lower corporate taxes would draw more investment, both domestic and foreign, and would help American workers, an economist writes.”
US Going Same Route as Greece, Portugal: Economist
cnbc.com
“The US is going down a similar road to that of Greece and Portugal with regards to its budgetary decisions, John E.Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo, on Wednesday.”
Freakonomics » FDIC Takes Aim at Bank Arbitrage Profits
freakonomics.com
“The Wall Street Journal reports that a recent rule change as part of the Dodd-Frank bill has led to a shortage of Treasurys available in the last few days. An FDIC rule that went into effect April 1 has made it more expensive for banks to participate in the overnight repo market, where they post Tre”