dan ryan

Transatlantic Divergence - NYTimes.com : This is some quasi-real time data that seems to demonstrate the fallacies of austerity.  However, the real demonstration of the fallacy of austerity is for evermore the urgency of the fiscal cliff. I don't know how you can argue for deficit reduction and austerity and be afraid of the fiscal cliff.

Calculated Risk: California: Unemployment Rate falls to 10.1% in October, Payroll jobs increase 45,800 : This is some good news along with some promising trends.  The thought of the balanced budget seems very optimistic   We shall see is this comes to fruition.

An interesting look and incentive to work at lower income levels  here .

EconoMonitor : Ed Dolan's Econ Blog » Two-Month Spike in CPI Appears to have Run its Course; Deflation Risk Nosedives on Election Outcome I'm not sure about Ed's conclusion but we certainly continue to have too little inflation.

What the New President Should Consider by Paul Volcker | The New York Review of Books Lots of goods points. Still need to chew on what this means in reality and not what it means in the abstract where you have two rational positions looking to compromise.

Where Are We on the Laffer Curve?, David Henderson | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty I couldn't disagree more. The lack of real analysis is glaring.

Correction: Total Government Spending on Higher Education, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty I am happy that the correction was made but unhappy that the implications related to error were not also addressed.

Can Congress Raise Taxes on the Rich without Raising Their Rates? Maybe So it seems that it may be possible but only with a lot of complexity whereas simply moving the marginal rate, which will move with NO action seems simple and not complex. This seems like a pound of flesh mentality. I still advise to move forward with the Democratic plan as is and wait to see how the House responds. The Democrars and the White House don't have any leverage until January 1 so don't give it away as it may be needed to ensure a resonably and hopefully longer term debt ceiling relief. I would love to see the ceiling raised to 20 trillion so we can get work rather than debate whether or not we will honor our obligations. It seems inconceivable that we would not do this and do this always. If we want to reduce the debt simply do it the normal way have more revenues than expenditures.

Calculated Risk: A few more thoughts on Fiscal Agreement : I like the point that agreement could be met this year and a bill could be crafted to lower  marginal rates for those who are under $250,000 effective January 1, 2013 without having to break the Republicans no increase pledge.

Robert Reich (The President's Opening Bid on a Grand Bargain: Aim High) I totally agree and this will have much less of a detriment to the economy. This is a great starting point and let's me in the middle a dollar or revenue for a dollar of spending reductions.

Brinksmanship and the Obama-Bush Tax Cuts, Garett Jones | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty This may be true. We will have to wait and see how it develops. A caveat is that the 2010 showdown happened after the election in which the house was flipped. A second caveat is that the makeup of the democratic majority from 2006-2010 has the blue dog component, which is largely absent from the Democratic house today.

The hardship in Europe