J. Bradford DeLong's Blog, page 2276

links for 2010-06-23

Blue Texan: Jeb Bush: It's "Childish" to Hold My Brother Accountable for Decisions He Made as President







David Dayen: The Key to Unlock a Door







David Weigel: Joe Barton Apologizes for Apologizing for Apologizing for Claiming the BP Escrow Account Was a "Shakedown"







Paul Krugman: Against The Super-Asinine, The Gods Themselves Contend in Vain

When Sports Reporters Lose Their Minds...

Xan Brooks liveblogs Wimbledon:

Wimbledon 2010 live blog: 2.15pm: Let's pause for some updates from around the ground. Florian Mayer has now scooped the third set from Queens runner-up Mardy Fish and now leads 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. Kim Clijsters leads Karolina Sprem 6-3, 4-1 on Court One, while Nicolas Mahut and big-serving John Isner are locked at two sets all on Court 18....

3.30pm: OK, am now back from my lunch-break tour of the grounds, where I walked the walkways and cafes, peered...

The Federal Reserve Does Nothing

Greg Robb:

Fed Stands Pat: The Federal Reserve on Wednesday left its target for the federal funds rate at a range of zero to 0.25% and maintained its pledge to keep rates at this historic low level for an "extended period" to support the recovery. In a statement after their two-day meeting, the Fed downgraded the outlook. They said financial conditions "have become less supportive of economic growth" largely as a result of the European debt crisis.

Paul Einzig Was Wrong!

Tyler Cowen sends us to:

Paul Einzig, from 1932: It is often argued that Governments are in a position to inflate by carrying out ambitious schemes of public works. Undoubtedly during the earlier stages of the crisis such measures might have produced the desired effect.  At present, however, they could hardly be adopted on any large scale.  Practically every Government has a huge budgetary deficit, which makes it difficult, if not impossible, to raise loans for meeting the extraordinary...

Is It Morning in America Yet?

Rex Nutting of Marketwatch:

New-home sales plunge 33% to record low in May Economic Report: Sales of new single-family homes plunged 33% in May to a record-low level after a federal subsidy for home buyers expired, according to data released Wednesday by the Commerce Department. Sales dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 300,000, the lowest since records began in 1963. April's sales pace was revised down to 446,000 compared with the 504,000 originally reported. March's...

How Is It That We Have Lost the Argument?

Martin Wolf:

Why it is right for central banks to keep printing: Confronted with huge fiscal deficits, many have concluded that they should hurry fiscal tightening on as fast as possible, in the hope that it will prove expansionary. What are the chances that they will be right? Small, I believe.... [A:]las, many “sound” people prefer orthodox recessions to unorthodox recoveries.

Why might a sharp structural fiscal tightening promote recovery?... [S:]maller prospective deficits may...

Eberhard von Stohrer Liveblogs World War II: June 23, 1940

Eberhard von Stohrer: Telegraph to Berlin:

The Spanish Foreign Minister requests advice with regard to the treatment of [the former King of the United Kingdom:] the Duke and Duchess of Windsor who were to arrive in Madrid today, apparently en route [from France, where he had been part of the British military mission to the French Army High Command:] to England by way of Lisbon. The Foreign Minister assumes that we might perhaps be interested in detaining the Duke here and possibly...

The Right Wing of the Democratic Party Has a True Deathwish

Harold Meyerson:

Centrist and clueless: Liberal Democrats know what they're for: a second stimulus to create more investment and jobs.... Republicans... know what they're against: anything the Democrats are for. That leaves the centrist Blue Dog Democrats, who don't really know what they're for or what they're against. Earlier this year... Blue Dogs... were saying they would welcome an end to the debate over health-care reform so they could turn their attention to jobs, jobs, jobs...

links for 2010-06-22

The Poor Man: BP upper management and shareholders are the Native Americans of Liberal Fascism.







Twitter / Gene Healy: Is this today's WaPo oped pg or Tiger Beat? Alexandra Petri: http://bit.ly/9kVnyB Richard Cohen: http://bit.ly/8XyQNs







Andrew Samwick: A Very Short To-Do List for the Next OMB Director

AS: "We face an unusually high unemployment rate of 9.7 percent and ridiculously...

What Does the Federal Reserve Think that It Is Doing Right Now?

David Leonhardt:

The Caution of the Fed Comes With a Risk: Ben Bernanke believes that he and his Federal Reserve colleagues have the ability to lift economic growth.... Mr. Bernanke also believes that the economy is growing “not fast enough”... that unemployment will remain high for years and that “a lot of people are going to be under financial stress.” Yet he has been unwilling to use his power to lift growth and reduce joblessness.... How can this be? How can Mr. Bernanke...