James Pethokoukis

Sunday, May 19, 2013

James Pethokoukis is the Money & Politics columnist-blogger for the American Enterprise Institute. Previously, he was the Washington columnist for Reuters Breakingviews. Pethokoukis has written for many publications including USNews & World Report, The New York Times, The Weekly Standard, Commentary, USA Today, and Investor's Business Daily. Pethokoukis is also an official CNBC contributor. In addition, he has appeared numerous times on MSNBC, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, The McLaughlin Group, CNN, and Nightly Business Report on PBS. A graduate of Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism, Pethokoukis is a 2002 Jeopardy! champion.

Pethokoukis

Beyond spending cuts and deficit reduction

James Pethokoukis | May 17, 2013, 1:57 pm

Actual mileage may vary, but if GDP growth and health inflation continue at their historical pace, healthcare spending per capita in 2105 would be $213,000 while all other spending per capita would be $130,000. Health care spending would go from … read more >

Pethokoukis, Economics, U.S. Economy

Is inequality hurting the US economic recovery?

James Pethokoukis | May 17, 2013, 10:55 am

Stock markets and corporate profits are up, wage growth anemic. So Fed Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin is wondering whether the “large and increasing amount of inequality in income and wealth” is hampering the current US economic recovery and perhaps “pose … read more >

Pethokoukis, Economics, U.S. Economy

The US has more austerity than Europe. So why is America doing OK?

James Pethokoukis | May 17, 2013, 9:29 am

So which economy in the world is “suffering” most from austerity? As Capital Economics notes, the combination of US tax hikes and spending cuts means that over the next two years the federal budget deficit is expected to fall by … read more >

Pethokoukis, Economics, Regulation

Why one-size-fits-all patent law is a bad idea

James Pethokoukis | May 16, 2013, 2:02 pm

Alex Tabarrok has argued that patent law should be stronger in business sectors where there are high “innovation-to-imitation costs” such as pharmaceuticals and weaker where costs are lower, such as software. Tabarrok: So, pharmaceuticals are really the classic case of where the … read more >

Pethokoukis

US budget forecast: ‘Around 2023 demographics trends turn brutal’

James Pethokoukis | May 16, 2013, 1:23 pm

This analysis from JPMorgan is sums things up nicely: The latest CBO projections look for the federal budget deficit to hit bottom at 2.1% of GDP in FY 2015 and then gradually rise to 3.5% of GDP in 2023, the … read more >

Also of Interest

The IRS and big government

The expanding Internal Revenue Service scandal could hardly be any more Drudgeriffic.

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Ferguson's blooper on Keynes

It was an unusually feisty weekend in corners of the blogosphere and Twitterverse where dwell economists and economic-policy wonks.

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The upside of economic pessimism

The disappointing first-quarter GDP report dashed hopes that 2013 might prove a breakout year for the U.S. economy.

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