James Pethokoukis

Saturday, May 18, 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

Obama has failed to restore faith in government

James Pethokoukis | May 15, 2013, 11:16 am

Politico: For five years, this president has been making the case that a growing and activist government has good intentions and can carry these intentions out with competence. Conservatives have warned that government is dangerous, and even good intentions get … read more >

Pethokoukis, Economics, U.S. Economy

CBO slashes deficit forecast. Is America’s Age of Debt pretty much over?

James Pethokoukis | May 14, 2013, 3:04 pm

Since the start of the Great Recession and financial crisis, the US government has been running annual budget deficits at a level unseen since World War Two. But not anymore. According to a revised Congressional Budget Office forecast, the budget deficit … read more >

Pethokoukis

America’s unstable families

James Pethokoukis | May 14, 2013, 1:19 pm

Many disturbing demographic facts from this Council on Foreign Relations blog post. The US has a working men problem (the labor force participation rate for US men is lower than their counterparts in nearly every European country) and an education problem … read more >

Economics, Monetary Policy, Pethokoukis

Christina Romer: If only the Fed had the nerve of the Bank of Japan

James Pethokoukis | May 14, 2013, 12:36 pm

The Bernanke Fed has made two massive mistakes. First, it “passively tightened” between April 2008 and October 2008 — via hawkish FOMC statements and leaving rates unchanged — as the economy deteriorated. Second, it fell asleep once the worst of the … read more >

Pethokoukis, Politics and Public Opinion, The Presidency

Scandals may shut the door on Obama’s progressive experiment

James Pethokoukis | May 14, 2013, 9:37 am

Democrats and left-wing pundits have long argued that Barack Obama would be their Ronald Reagan, a president who significantly shifted the nation’s political and economic landscape. With reelection and a second term, as Andrew Sullivan wrote last September, Obama would … 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.

read more >

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