The economy is a mess. It’s one thing many Americans and political candidates of all stripes seem to agree on. While it may be somewhat less of a mess than five years ago, the thinking goes, the current administration and Congress have done little to address the crushing challenges faced by large swaths of the American public.
Read moreAnother way to look at the national debt
Welcome to the next chapter of the endless debt debate. The release of a Congressional Budget Office report on the next 10 years of the U.S. economy ends a brief lull in Washington. As we return once again to our regularly scheduled program of “Crisis and Impasse,” let’s take a moment to consider the following heretical idea: We have no debt problem.
Read moreFiscal Cliffs, Forever: The U.S. Is Hopelessly Addicted to Crisis
So we did not fall off the cliff. But the reaction to the news of the deal suggests that we've become a culture addicted to crisis, because barely had the vote been taken when the spin from politicians, from the mainstream media, and from the cacophonous web was angry, sullen, and negative.
Read moreObama Economic Strategy Targets Jobs & Growth, but Aims at 2012 Reelection
Yet another day in the yo-yo chronicles. The markets tanked once again, reverting to their extreme behavior of last week; European banks groaned under the presumed weight of unresolved debt burdens; and American economic data, ranging from the Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing survey to jobless claims, suggested that, yes, Virginia, there may be a Santa Claus, but his bag this year is shaping up as decidedly thin.
Read moreOur Real Debt Problem
On Friday, I posted a piece on the U.S. debt and how we are creating a false crisis given current interest rates and our ability to manage that. Judging from the responses, you would have thought I was penning a piece in defense of eugenics. OK, the online world is not known for its sobriety, but the heated reaction to my post is typical of the current debate about debt.
Read moreWhat Would the Founding Fathers Say About the National Debt? Don’t Default
One of America’s favorite pastimes is to play the “what would the Founding Fathers say” game. Just pick an issue du jour, and ask the question. Given that today’s world (Google, Twitter, television) is probably way beyond even the imagination of the 18th-century designers of the Constitution, the game usually says more about today’s partisan fights than about the Founders.
Read more