15 | January | 2013

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Short and sweet: Why the debt ceiling must be raised, and prioritizing payments won’t work

James Pethokoukis | January 15, 2013, 9:26 pm

Tony Fratto was an assistant secretary in the US Treasury Department before moving to the White House in September 2006 as deputy assistant to president George W. Bush and principal deputy press secretary. Currently, he is a partner at Hamilton … read more >

Carpe Diem

Minimum wage fact of the day

Mark J. Perry | January 15, 2013, 5:21 pm

According to BLS data, there were almost 4 million teenagers (16 to 19 year olds) working in 2001. Q: Of those 3.936 million working teenagers in 2011, how many and what percent were earning more than the minimum wage? A: … read more >

103

Foreign and Defense Policy, Middle East and North Africa

Iran diverts IRGC Ground Force commanders to Syria in an effort to prop up the Assad regime

Will Fulton | January 15, 2013, 4:23 pm

What have we learned from this rare insight into the Iranian leadership’s strategic thinking? They’re more than a little worried Assad’s days are numbered. Let’s hope they’re right. read more >

Carpe Diem

Commercial lending has almost completely recovered from the Great Recession, and faster than after 2001 recession

Mark J. Perry | January 15, 2013, 4:16 pm

The chart above shows weekly commercial and industrial loan volume at both: a) all US commercial banks (blue line, data here), and b) large domestically-chartered commercial banks (red line, data here). A few highlights: 1. Commercial loan volume at large … read more >

Society and Culture, Education

Massively open online courses could be the future of higher education–if they can figure out how to stop cheaters

KC Deane | January 15, 2013, 4:09 pm

Today, at the urging of the California governor, Udacity—a Massively Open Online Course (MOOC) provider, the hot new thing in higher education that offers free online courses by elite professors to students worldwide—and San Jose State University announced a partnership … read more >

Economics, Pethokoukis, Taxes and Spending

On taxes, European Left should point to US as a redistributive paradise

James Pethokoukis | January 15, 2013, 1:48 pm

Just how progressive is the US income tax code compared to those of other advanced economies? AEI’s Kevin Hassett: 1. This year (see the chart above) the highest earners will face a marginal tax rate of 40.8% — almost three times as … read more >

Carpe Diem

One of private charity’s unappreciated benefits: protection against the coercive and confiscatory power of the state

Mark J. Perry | January 15, 2013, 12:59 pm

Ben Zycher makes some excellent points in yesterday’s Investor’s Business Daily about a very important, and yet underappreciated, role of America’s private charitable organizations – they help protect us from the “coercive and confiscatory power of the state,” here are some excerpts: Charities and other … read more >

Economics, Pethokoukis

A US Postal Service IPO could raise $40 billion for taxpayers

James Pethokoukis | January 15, 2013, 12:56 pm

From The Hill: The U.S. Postal Service’s board of governors has told the agency to speed up internal streamlining efforts, USPS said in a Monday statement. … USPS said the original plan would add up to about $20 billion a year … read more >

Paul Krugman's Strange Ireland Prediction

Economics, Taxes and Spending

Jon Stewart vs. Paul Krugman on the $1 trillion coin

Marc Thiessen | January 15, 2013, 12:45 pm

In the Washington Post this week, I noted that if the president could really create a trillion dollars out of thin air simply by minting a magic coin, why would he stop at one? He could mint 17 and eliminate … read more >

Economics, Pethokoukis, U.S. Economy

Why returning to trend GDP growth isn’t good enough

James Pethokoukis | January 15, 2013, 11:30 am

The economic consensus is that US growth is slowly returning to trend of around 3%, as this WSJ chart shows: So assuming the consensus is correct, why my constant push for pro-growth economic policies, both fiscal and monetary? For one … read more >