Monthly Archives: September 2011

The big news today for financial regulation is the final release from the UK’s Independent Commission on Banking, or what is being referred to as the Vickers Report.  It recommends ring-fencing for the major banks.  Key graphic on page 54: As they say: … Continue reading →

In his jobs proposal, President Obama called for a modification of unemployment insurance based on Georgia Works, a proposal the administration refers to as the “most innovative reform to the unemployment insurance program in 40 years.” Georgia Works is a program … Continue reading →

Alas poor, impotent vigilantes. No, not that guy.  I’m talking about the bond vigilantes. You may have noticed a line in Obama’s job speech last night about how the Chamber of Commerce and the labor organizations want an infrastructure bill. … Continue reading →

(Originally posted at New Deal 2.0) Over the weekend, Jonathan Chait wrote an article critical of “the Left’s” critique of Obama’s economic policy. He criticized the “magical thinking” shown by people who assume the president is more powerful than he is and … Continue reading →

As a result of recent writings on the role of the GSEs in the financial crisis, the Roosevelt Institute has decided to do an event in Washington D.C. to lay out and discuss what we know about what has happened. … Continue reading →

There were comments I wanted to share on the previous Labor Day post on feudalism, labor unions and the creation of “free” labor through regulation. From Corey Robin: the contracts workers entered into freely had these features you mention, regardless … Continue reading →

Happy Labor Day!  Peter Frase encourages us to celebrate workers, not work.  Good Magazine has a list of 10 things the labor movement has brought you – weekends, 8-hour work days, etc.  One thing I’d like to add to that … Continue reading →

Payroll data came in this morning showing zero net new jobs. Actually, it came in at +17,000 private payroll jobs, -17,000 public payroll jobs. The government continues to drop jobs, shedding around 600,000 since the beginning of the recession. This … Continue reading →

Because of Alan Krueger’s appointment to the CEA, I figured there would be a lot of interest in his previous work on the minimum wage.  In order to figure out how that body of work has aged, I reached out … Continue reading →

The Meracatus Center recently published a study by Garrett Jones and Daniel Rothschild titled, “Did Stimulus Dollars Hire the Unemployed?” It uses surveys and seeks to point out flaws in the achievements of the ARRA, or Obama’s stimulus program. Matt Yglesias, Kevin Drum, and Jon … Continue reading →