29 | March | 2012

Monday, May 20, 2013

Min Wage = No Subway $5 Footlongs In SF

Mark J. Perry | March 29, 2012, 6:58 pm

NBC — “The catchy Subway sandwich shop jingle involving a variety of foot-long sandwiches available for $5 doesn’t apply in San Francisco. Apparently, the city’s new minimum wage, raised to $10.24 as of January 1, make $5 footlongs an impossible … read more >

Carpe Diem

Jobless Claims Close to a Four-Year Low

Mark J. Perry | March 29, 2012, 6:39 pm

Initial jobless claims (seasonally adjusted) fell to 359,000 for the week ending March 24, which was the lowest number since April 2008, almost four years ago, according to today’s Labor Department report. The four-week moving average of weekly claims, … read more >

Foreign and Defense Policy

Iran, South Africa, bribery, and cell phones. Oh my.

Danielle Pletka | March 29, 2012, 4:33 pm

This story isn’t getting enough play, and it deserves more. Ludlum couldn’t have written it better. Here are the highlights: In a complaint filed yesterday in U.S. District Court, Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri, aka Turkcell, the Turkish mobile media giant, alleges … read more >

Economics

One budget to rule them all: Paul Ryan’s debt plan outcuts rival plans

James Pethokoukis | March 29, 2012, 1:49 pm

As this great chart from my pals over at the Bipartisan Policy Center shows, Rep. Paul Ryan’s Path to Prosperity budget would reduce debt as a share of GDP more than all the rest. And that actually understates the PTP’s … read more >

Politics and Public Opinion, Law and the Constitution

Alito’s correct: The individual mandate was never about saving money

Christopher J. Conover | March 29, 2012, 1:32 pm

According to Justice Ginsburg, the central justification for the individual mandate is to prevent “free riding” by the uninsured, who allegedly impose a cost of more than $1,000 apiece on other health insurance market participants. But the dirty little secret … read more >

Foreign and Defense Policy, Asia

Why did Obama’s administration have confidence in North Korea’s good faith in the first place?

Michael Mazza | March 29, 2012, 1:29 pm

Dany, the best one-sentence summary of this ridiculousness that I’ve seen was written yesterday (kudos to Josh Rogin, emphasis mine): Some lawmakers were skeptical that the administration was not punishing the North Koreans for their upcoming missile launch by withholding … read more >

Economics, U.S. Economy

America’s missing $845 billion in income—updated

James Pethokoukis | March 29, 2012, 1:23 pm

Economist Michael Darda of MKM Partners, whose chart leads this post (with a slight addition by me): Thus, underlying economic momentum appears to have picked up some. Unfortunately, there is a long way back to the pre-bubble, pre-crisis path, as … read more >

Economics

Who was to blame for the financial crisis?

Nick Schulz | March 29, 2012, 12:58 pm

During my conversation with AQR Capital Management’s Cliff Asness, I asked him who was to blame for the financial crisis. Asness is careful to separate the real estate bubble from the broader financial contagion and too-big-to-fail. Of the too-big-to-fail problem, … read more >

Economics, Taxes and Spending

Gov. Jerry Brown: If you make $250,000, you’re a millionaire

James Pethokoukis | March 29, 2012, 12:05 pm

Every man a millionaire—starting at $250k. From the LA Times: Gov. Jerry Brown defended his new campaign website’s characterization of his proposed tax increase as “a millionaires’ tax,” even though it hikes levies on people who make more than $250,000 … read more >

Economics

How the Fed helped cause the housing bubble and financial crisis

James Pethokoukis | March 29, 2012, 11:37 am

John Taylor in the WSJ: The Fed’s mistake of slowing money growth at the onset of the Great Depression is well-known. And from the mid-1960s through the ’70s, the Fed intervened with discretionary go-stop changes in money growth that led … read more >

Lean In… to Government?
Sheryl Sandberg's runaway best-selling book Lean In has managed to offend both the Left and the Right. Sandberg touts female hard-headedness, yet also calls for an elaborate government- and employer-supplied support system for women. […]
Are American Voters Racist?
Racial prejudice plays a very small role in American politics, but a highly disciplined sense of self-interest on the part of one group may play a very large role in the way the federal government functions. […]
The Perpetual Passion for Paper
Paper is becoming less important in some respects, but its strengths — prestige, utility, permanence, and security — are more essential than ever. […]
Could California Make a Comeback?
An unexpected glimmer of hope might cast a new light on the Golden State. […]