Category Archives: Economics and the like

Is Taxation Theft?

Posted on April 14, 2011 by Myca

There’s an argument you get a lot from either Libertarian-types or Republican economic-conservative types in general, which goes something like, “My money’s my money, and it’s not only a bad idea (in a pragmatic way) for the government to take … Continue reading →

Posted in crossposted on TADA, Economics and the like, Libertarianism | 83 Comments

Political Cartoon: Health Care and Freedom

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Ampersand

[spoiler]The scene: A woman in casual business wear addresses the reader directly. Panel one Woman: i’m TRAPPED in my job, because my kid is sick, and if i change jobs there goes my health insurance! Panel two Woman: i have … Continue reading →

Posted in Cartooning & comics, Health Care and Related Issues | 34 Comments

Political cartoon: Unemployment, Democrats vs Republicans

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Ampersand

I’m fond of the drawing in this one. Click on the cartoon to see it a bit bigger. [spoiler] The scene shows two women, one of them a bit older and dressed in black skirt, heels, and a blazer, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cartooning & comics, crossposted on TADA, Economics and the like, Elections and politics | 39 Comments

Complacency Towards Vast, Preventable Suffering

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Ampersand

Worth echoing: David Romer writes: I had one major source of unhappiness with last week’s conference: the participants were largely silent about the dismal outlook in the advanced economies for the next several years. The current outlook for unemployment in … Continue reading →

Posted in crossposted on TADA, Economics and the like | Comments Off on Complacency Towards Vast, Preventable Suffering

Are public workers overpaid?

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Ampersand

On another thread, Robert writes: People who are paid a market wage are (naturally) somewhat resentful of people who can deploy political power to extract an above-market wage, at the expense of the people being paid market wages. If that’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Class, poverty, labor, & related issues, crossposted on TADA, Economics and the like | 79 Comments

Why Austerity is Bullshit

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Guest Writer

This is a guest post by Ben Lehman. I’ve seen the phrase “austerity” getting floated a lot in political discussions lately. In all the languages in all of human history, never has there been a word that crammed more bullshit … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and the like | 72 Comments

Why The Rich Can Afford To Pay More Taxes

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Ampersand
Posted in Economics and the like | 17 Comments

Are Leftist Solutions Solutions If They’re Not Politically Viable?

Posted on February 19, 2011 by Ampersand

In comments, I wrote: Barring some truly enormous increase in the amount of taxes Americans are willing to pay — the costs of medicare et al are going to increasingly crowd out other things that I think we should also … Continue reading →

Posted in crossposted on TADA, Elections and politics, Health Care and Related Issues | 15 Comments

Taxes Don’t Drive (Many) Millionaires Out Of High-Tax States

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Ampersand

In comments, Brandon Berg wrote: Which, really, is why leftists aren’t so big on federalism. The left-wing program can’t work without the ability to bleed high-yield taxpayers. And if said taxpayers are free to just pack up and move to … Continue reading →

Posted in crossposted on TADA, Economics and the like | 6 Comments

You can’t talk about the debt without talking about rising medical costs

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Ampersand

Via Andrew Sullivan, I read this article by Anne Lowrey trying to make the deficit understandable by putting it in terms of a household budget. For our purposes, let’s use $60,000 as the government’s income and $85,000 as its expenses. … Continue reading →

Posted in crossposted on TADA, Economics and the like, Health Care and Related Issues | 18 Comments