We heard the unexpected news that the economy contracted for the first time in three years. For all the pundits who claimed that spending our way out of recession was the answer to our economic recovery, it hasn’t proved worthwhile. However, instead of acknowledging failed policy, the Left resorted to more blame and outright ignorance. (more…)
There is a persistent idea circulating that the current tax margins are really not all that high when compared to past rates. This line of thought is typically used as justifications that 1) the government deserves more revenue and 2) the wealthy taxpayers can afford higher taxes. The truth, however, is that obtusely higher rates in the past were rarely ever paid at that amount because they were easily offset by abundant tax deductions universally used by the wealthy. (more…)
Tomorrow is the first Friday of the month, when unemployment numbers get released. This morning, Gallup released the results of its survey. It announced that,
U.S. unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, was 7.8% for the month of November, up significantly from 7.0% for October. Gallup’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 8.3%, nearly a one-point increase over October’s rate.
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The article went on wonder how the unemployment rate could have possibly risen again in November, after dropping right before the November Election. It speculated “superstorm Sandy” or “lackluster holiday hiring is to blame”.
Of course, it certainly couldn’t be related to the re-election of President Obama or the fiscal cliff now, could it?
Update: Unemployment drops to 7.7% — specifically, and only, because more than 500,000 workers dropped out of the workforce entirely.
A quick little snippet coming from the AP — a new poll shows that more Americans would rather cut spending than raise taxes
56 percent to 31 percent, more embraced cuts in government services than higher taxes as the best medicine for the budget, according to the survey, which was conducted Feb. 16 to 20.
Thankfully, a majority of Americans have more sense than our Administration these days
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus bill was signed exactly by President Barack Obama on February 17th, 2009. We were told how this would help Americans go back to work while creating more jobs. Yep.
So much for Keynesian Economics.
Daniel Synder did an excellent summary the other day entitled “Economics: The ‘Science’ of Hubristic Hope”. It’s a must read regarding the current state of our economy. Perhaps while we are waiting in line to pump our $5 gas.