Economy
Travis Rowley takes on the talking point that the “Bush tax cuts” and the deregulatory impulse are what (say it with me) got us in this mess in the first place. The core of the argument goes to those government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) that backed mortgages for lower-income families: Whenever Democrats cite “the failed policies of…
In today’s Saturday column,Ted Nesi voices reasoning that is only possible in a society that’s become hubristicly accustomed to economic growth as an inevitability: If bond investors are offering Rhode Island the lowest interest rates in its history, shouldn’t the state be borrowing more money right now? Gina Raimondo has hinted she’s thinking that way,…
Observing the VP debate from within; flight from a failing region; surprising beneficiaries of a government bailout; a fable. Continue reading on the Ocean State Current…
A lot of people who watch policy and politics relatively closely were very surprised, this morning, to hear that the unemployment rate had fallen to its lowest level during the Obama presidency — a level last seen in January 2009. As James Pethokoukis notes, of the seasonally adjusted 873,000 jump in employment from August to…
John Merline at Investor’s Business Daily put together the below chart to help explain the economic myths being told by the President (read the whole thing).
Economic development options, from all-government to government-dominated; the heartless-to-caring axis in politics; Southern New Englanders’ “independence”; solidarity between Romney and his garbage man; the media coup d’etat. Continue reading on the Ocean State Current…
I think back to the old Southwest Airlines commercial (see it) advertising the all the great things about Philadelphia, including the cabbie proclaiming “Well there’s a lot, a lot of culture here” and then all the other people in the commercial just proclaiming the greatness of the cheesesteak. Sometimes, I feel like people here in…
Bob Plain’s petit four of class warfare; CA’s bid for more pension fund dollars; a martial metaphor for regionalization; a downturn for the never-recovered; Coulter v. View mention of RI. Continue reading on the Ocean State Current…
Yesterday, the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC), a venerable Rhode Island policy “voice and catalyst” founded in 1932, released a report analyzing the structure of the state’s quasi-public Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and suggesting a reorganization. Governor Lincoln Chafee requested the report in May, following the scandalous collapse of 38 Studios, which had been the…
Returning RI to its natural state; RI as a playground for the rich; the gimmick of QE; the gimmick of digital records; killing coal/economy; when “Mostly False” means true. Continue reading on the Ocean State Current…