22 | February | 2013

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

A WARNing about the sequester

Tom Gies | February 22, 2013, 4:39 pm

The looming sequester is giving defense contractors major heartburn. Anxiety is exacerbated by uncertainties about application of the WARN Act, a federal labor law requiring employers to give 60 days advance notice before implementing a significant layoff or closing a … read more >

Society and Culture, Education

When it comes to alternative accreditation, the ‘who’ matters just as much as the ‘how’

Andrew P. Kelly | February 22, 2013, 4:25 pm

As I discussed last week, the president left the intriguing higher education news to the SOTU fact sheet. He called on Congress to create a “new alternative system of accreditation that would provide pathways for higher education models and colleges … read more >

Pethokoukis

Some overdue credit to Larry Kudlow

James Pethokoukis | February 22, 2013, 4:10 pm

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat is very generous to me here: In the last week there have been not one but four impressive pieces on fixing the Republican Party’s policy problem — one by Ramesh Ponnuru in the pages of this newspaper, one … read more >

Pethokoukis

Here’s how Washington insiders think the sequester fight is going to go down

James Pethokoukis | February 22, 2013, 3:04 pm

Chris Krueger, the plugged-in political analyst at GS Washington Research Group, gives his best guess on how the sequester will play out: Once the media begins pumping out human-interest stories on the impact of sequester (imagine USA Today and People Magazine articles on Air … read more >

Economics, Taxes and Spending

Study: Is a US debt crisis calling from inside the house?

James Pethokoukis | February 22, 2013, 2:40 pm

Something to keep in mind as Washington debates the sequester: US publicly held debt is roughly 74% of GDP. Gross debt, including money owed to other parts of the government such as Social Security trust funds, is 105% of GDP. … read more >

Carpe Diem

World industrial output reached a new record high in 2012

Mark J. Perry | February 22, 2013, 1:44 pm

The CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis released its monthly report yesterday on world trade and world industrial production for the month of December 2012. Here are some of the highlights: 1. World merchandise trade volume (adjusted for price changes) decreased … read more >

Image Credit: Donald Lee Pardue (Flickr) (CC BY 2.0)

Economics

In support of the Postal Service’s new clothing line

Richard Geddes | February 22, 2013, 12:03 pm

The announcement by the US Postal Service that it is starting a new all-weather line of clothing called “Rain Heat & Snow” has raised more than a few eyebrows. After all, the clothing business is extremely competitive, and there’s little … read more >

Image Credit: Gage Skidmore (Flickr) (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Society and Culture

Rick Scott’s Medicaid decision confirms AEI scholar Michael Greve’s concerns about contemporary federalism

Spencer Cowan | February 22, 2013, 11:51 am

Florida Governor Rick Scott’s announcement that he will expand the Sunshine State’s Medicaid program this week confirms what AEI scholar Michael Greve has long declared: America has a federalism problem—one that cannot be solved, as many conservatives insist, by simply … read more >

2.22.13 Fuel for Social Unrest in Europe

Foreign and Defense Policy, Europe and Russia

The EU’s economic malaise could lead to a ‘European Spring’

Desmond Lachman | February 22, 2013, 11:34 am

In early 2011, the world was taken by surprise by the Arab Spring of social and political unrest that swept through a number of Middle-Eastern countries including Egypt, Libya, and Syria. This has to raise questions as to whether something … read more >

Pethokoukis, Economics, Taxes and Spending

The New York Times just wrote one abysmal editorial on raising taxes

James Pethokoukis | February 22, 2013, 10:35 am

What a misguided yet clarifying editorial on taxes from The New York Times. I think we are going to have to take this one apart sentence by sentence: 1. “To reduce the deficit in a weak economy, new taxes on … read more >

Hindsight Isn’t 20/20
Many lessons should be drawn from the U.S. experience in Iraq. Unfortunately, we’re not learning what we should. […]
The Uses of Scandal
One of the greatest uses of scandal is to vividly demonstrate what new laws are needed and to create the political conditions to get them enacted. […]
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. […]