A lot of people on the right have been exalting the virtues of “job creators”, agitating for policy changes like the lowering of taxes on the wealthy, the relaxing of regulations, and the augmentation of corporate subsidies so as to facilitate their special talents. Today I would like to juxtapose this view with that of Thorstein Veblen’s notion of the leisure class.
Tag: Stimulus
The Immense Obstinacy of Ed DeMarco
There’s an important fight going on in the Federal Housing Finance Agency that you may not have heard about. Actually, you might not even have heard of the FHFA. They’re the guys who oversee Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the state-run mortgage buying businesses. Here’s the trouble–Fannie and Freddie possess a lot of mortgages for which the owners of these mortgages are “underwater”. Not that there’s been any flooding, of course.
Debunking Metaphors: “Government is like a Business”
“Government is like a business”. You’ve heard the metaphor before. In order to make it easier for a lay person to understand a complex political issue, pundits and politicians will try to relate it to something familiar, and one of the most frequently chosen metaphors is the business or household. Mitt Romney’s candidacy for US President is predicated on the notion that, because he has successfully run businesses, he can successfully run the government.
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The Imaginary Debt Crisis
Lots of people think the United States has a debt problem. Lots of people are wrong. Here’s why.
Benjamin Studebaker 