nick peelman

Link Paul Krugman: The iPhone Stimulus

If you think sales of the latest iPhone will help the economy, then you should support the government stepping in and doing more, too.

Yep.

Link Doug Masson: Roads Cost Money

One problem seems to be that the gas tax used to maintain roads has stayed flat at 18 cents per gallon while vehicles have become more fuel efficient — in other words, drivers have been taxed less per mile driven. It’s good to encourage fuel efficiency, but at the same time, you have to pay for this stuff.

Yep. One of the biggest problems I think with our current climate is that people are largely ignorant of the scale at which even their state government operates, let alone the federal government. I would venture to say that a lot of people have trouble wrapping their heads around the fact that their “local government” doesn’t stop governing at the end of their block. Roads are expensive, and they require expensive maintenance to stay passable. Bridges are even more expensive, and given that nobody wants to go crashing into a river on their way to the grocery store, incredibly important that they be well-built and properly engineered.

Public works projects got us out of the Depression and allowed us to set on a path of prosperity that lasted half a century. The fact that we aren’t willing to give up a significant chunk of our military spending in order to boost the well-being of a society (and our children) says orders of magnitude of the path this country is on.

Link Doug Masson on Tim Durham's Douchebaggery

It’s in the course of selecting a trial that the potential juror said, “He took money from people’s pensions and spent it on fun things.”

And yet its the government’s fault the economy is in the shitter. And regardless, there is nothing that can be done to set it right. He could liquidate everything he owns and only pay back a fraction of what he practically stole. If he’s found guilty and sent to prison, we get to keep paying for the greedy fuck to keep living, albeit at a much more modest scale. And through it all, those pensions will still be broke, the companies he screwed either bankrupt or financially handicapped.

Eventually the talented children of the poor no longer ascend to positions of power and prestige while the mediocre sons of the wealthy stop falling back to the bottom of the social pyramid.

Basically we’ve allowed the creation of a new breed of royalty, term-limited only by the size of their bankroll. They can buy anything they want, including laws.

Link Paul Krugman: Where The Productivity Went

It’s two-thirds the inequality, stupid.

Link Paul Krugman: The Collapse of Employment-Based Coverage

A system coming apart at the seams.

But our corporate benefactors will be there to save us right?

Link The GOP's Plan(s) to sink the economy

Its just like tech journalists who will short a stock (or advise others to do so) before they write an article about something surely to remove value from the stock of a company.

The more the GOP talks about a bad economy, the longer it will STAY a bad economy, because keeping people scared stops them from spending. You’re not going to go and buy a new car or washing machine today if you’re afraid you won’t be able to afford milk next month.

I spent a total of 20 minutes watching Fox talk about this bullshit today while in the dentist’s office. Mixed with my usual anxiety about that particular trip, it was enough to almost make me throw up.

Link Paul Krugman: Equality of Opportunity? Never Mind

If you can’t afford college, tough luck.

Link Pain Without Gain - Krugman (again)

Now the results are in — and they’re exactly what three generations’ worth of economic analysis and all the lessons of history should have told you would happen. The confidence fairy has failed to show up: none of the countries slashing spending have seen the predicted private-sector surge. Instead, the depressing effects of fiscal austerity have been reinforced by falling private spending.