The view of Washington as a dysfunctional system is deeply entrenched—and of course it’s the most popular meme on the GOP campaign trail. “Nothing works in our country,” Donald Trump said again at Tuesday night’s debate, repeating his favorite (and seemingly most effective) appeal to a base that’s disgusted with politics as usual. Yet the past week has been a blow to cynics everywhere, because lo and behold, Congress, the White House, and the Federal Reserve all acted on vital economic policy and did so with minimal drama.
Read moreWhy Washington's growing irrelevance is good for the country
After three years of sclerosis, Congress is poised to at last pass an actual budget. We’ve been so consumed with the dysfunction of the parties on Capitol Hill that this feat appears significant. In fact, it should be routine. Yet in the context of the past few years, it is anything but.
Read moreThe Lady Gaga Fix: How the U.S. Is Rethinking GDP for the 21st Century
This week the government released yet another revision of first-quarter economic growth showing that the U.S. economy grew a tad less than initially reported ‑- 2.4 percent rather than 2.5 percent. This revision was hardly consequential, but over the summer the Bureau of Economic Analysis will unveil a new way to calculate the overall output of the United States. And that revision will be dramatic.
Read moreCOLUMN - Building a better economic yardstick: the new US GDP
This week the U.S. government released yet another revision of 2013 first-quarter economic growth showing that the economy grew a little less than initially reported - 2.4 percent rather than 2.5 percent on an annualized basis.
Read moreIt’s an old numbers game. What if they’re wrong?
When President Obama unveiled his $3.77 trillion budget, a key selling point relied on a somewhat arcane economic indicator: the ratio of federal debt to GDP (the goods and services the nation produces). How much debt can the nation manage?
Read moreBudget Debate and the Deficit Friendly Tax Cut
Washington is entering its summer of discontent, with no resolution of the budget and debt issues that will push the federal government to the brink of insolvency in early August. Among the many divisive issues: what to do about taxes in general and corporate taxes in particular.
Read moreGovernment Bailouts: What’s it All About?
Global stock markets are in summer free-fall; the stocks and bonds of financial institutions are sinking more quickly than the Titanic; and sentiment is veering into panic territory. We have, of course, been here before, not necessarily exactly here, but close enough. In 1990-1991, banks also went into a tailspin, and before that there was the S&L crisis, and before that, the massive failures of the early 1930s, and then back into the regular bank panics and financial collapses that were endemic to the U.S. financial system for much of our history.
Read moreTwo Agents, Two Paths: How the CIA Became a Vital Operation
The Bush administration asked Congress to expand the powers of the Central Intelligence Agency to have the authority to issue "national security letters" demanding access to a wide range of personal records held in the United States, including those kept by banks and on-line service providers.
Read moreNews Review
The Last Campaign: How Harry Truman Won the 1948 Election
Zachery Karabell discussed his book The Last Campaign: How Harry Truman Won the 1948 Election, published by Alfred Knopf. The book details the last election before television changed the process forever.
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