03 | August | 2012

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Is climate science ‘post-normal science’?

Kenneth P. Green | August 3, 2012, 4:07 pm

Over at Judith Curry’s Climate Etc. blog, there’s a great post up today by Steven Mosher comparing normal science (the hunt for the Higgs Boson) with post-normal climate science. Mosher points out that in normal science, scientists can acknowledge uncertainty, … read more >

Photo Credit: Flickr [Nobama Nomas-(CC BY-SA 2.0)]

Economics, Taxes and Spending

There’s no free lunch on tax reform

Alex Brill and Alan Viard | August 3, 2012, 3:56 pm

Tax reform, a major component of the Simpson-Bowles Commission report, Governor Romney’s economic agenda, and a recent bill passed by the House of Representatives, is gaining traction and might just be possible next year if there is sufficient political will … read more >

Pethokoukis

Is the July jobs report completely bogus?

James Pethokoukis | August 3, 2012, 2:48 pm

Did the Labor Department blow it? Here’s AEI economist Aparna Mathur: There is something clearly wrong with the BLS jobs report for July. The household survey shows that households claimed to have lost 195,000 jobs. But the establishment survey shows that … read more >

Economics, Financial Services

A bill to prevent the expansion of ‘Too Big to Fail’

Peter J. Wallison | August 3, 2012, 2:09 pm

Of all the misbegotten provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, the worst is probably the authority given to the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) to designate certain nonbank firms as “systemically important” because their failure may lead to instability in the … read more >

Economics, International economy

The Economist—All over Huawei

Claude Barfield | August 3, 2012, 2:01 pm

This week’s Economist is all over Huawei, the Chinese telecoms giant—cover, lead editorial, and extended analysis: “Who’s afraid of Huawei?” As one would expect from this newspaper (The Economist refers to itself always as a newspaper), the treatment of Huawei … read more >

Pethokoukis

Chart of the Day: America’s missing 11 million workers

James Pethokoukis | August 3, 2012, 1:22 pm

AEI colleague Michael Strain notes, in a blog post, that the employment-to-population ratio is his favorite way of looking at the U.S. labor market. This number is simply the number of folks holding any jobs as a percentage of population. Before … read more >

Pethokoukis

Doing fine: ‘Wage growth is the slowest on record’

James Pethokoukis | August 3, 2012, 12:54 pm

A big reason why no one should be happy with the July jobs report. JPMorgan: The workweek was unchanged at 34.5 hours and average hourly earnings inched forward 0.1%. On a year-ago basis, average hourly earnings growth is the slowest … read more >

Pethokoukis

U.S. economy creates just 33,000 net new jobs since January 2009

James Pethokoukis | August 3, 2012, 12:33 pm

Some stunning labor market factoids via Hamilton Place Strategies: 1. Net jobs created under President Obama (from Jan 09): 33,000. 2. Jobs needed monthly for unemployment rate to be below 8% on Election Day if current participation rate holds steady: 279,003. 3. … read more >

Pethokoukis

White House economist: Up is the new flat

James Pethokoukis | August 3, 2012, 12:17 pm

White House economist Alan Krueger: Today’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that private sector establishments added 172,000 jobs last month, and overall non-farm payroll employment rose by 163,000. The economy has now added private sector jobs … read more >

Economics, Pethokoukis

Responding to Nick Schulz on Simpson-Bowles

James Pethokoukis | August 3, 2012, 10:44 am

Nick Schulz responds to my Romney/Simpson-Bowles post as follows: Jimmy P., good point re: Romney and the Simpson-Bowles tax plan. But I’m not sure he could or should embrace the S-B treatment of defense spending. S-B takes a truly reckless approach to … read more >