Magic Mushrooms

It had been a rainy summer in Colorado. No surprise to find mushrooms as we hiked the Andrews Glacier trail in Rocky Mountain National Park. But these mushrooms! Three inches across, deep crimson with white splotches, glowing in the mountain sunlight! Amanita muscaria, the original deadly toadstool, the mushroom of fairytales, Alice in Wonderland’s mushroom. . . . → Read More: Magic Mushrooms

The Buyout of America: How Private Equity Will Cause the Next Great Credit Crisis, by Josh Kosman

On vacation in Colorado, we drive through the Littleton shopping mall. There it is, a two-story building, black and empty behind its glass facade. Mervyn’s Department Store. Founded in 1949, Mervyn’s grew to a chain of 189 stores in 10 Western states. But in 2008, Mervyn’s went bankrupt , laying off 18,000 employees without severance . . . → Read More: The Buyout of America: How Private Equity Will Cause the Next Great Credit Crisis, by Josh Kosman

Deficit Hawk, Progressive Style, Part II

As I wrote in Part I, the deficit hawks legitimately claim that huge deficits will hinder investment and kill jobs. But their solutions would make matters worse. What are those solutions? What are alternatives? A leading hawk, C. Fred Bergsten of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, proposes three control measures: containing Medicare and Medicaid . . . → Read More: Deficit Hawk, Progressive Style, Part II

Deficit Hawk, Progressive Style, Part I

Deficit hawks are justifiably concerned about ballooning national debt. But their solution–cutting social spending–would make matters worse. . . . → Read More: Deficit Hawk, Progressive Style, Part I

Unjust Deserts: How the Rich Are Taking Our Common Inheritance and Why We Should Take It Back

REVIEW Unjust Deserts : How the Rich Are Taking Our Common Inheritance and Why We Should Take It Back by Gar Alperovitz and Lew Daly

Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz simultaneously invented calculus in the 1670’s. As Isaac Newton wrote, “If I have seen far, it is because I have stood on the . . . → Read More: Unjust Deserts: How the Rich Are Taking Our Common Inheritance and Why We Should Take It Back

What’s the Matter with Michigan? The Rise and Collapse of an Economic Wonder

Mason Gaffney, Groundswell Nov-Dec 2008 (posted 1/29/09)

During the Golden Age of Georgist Progressives, roughly 1890 to 1935, lower Michigan stands out as one of the great success stories. Detroit Mayor, then Governor, Hazen Pingree pushed single tax principles. He reformed assessments to emphasize land over improvements, and raised property taxes to provide services for . . . → Read More: What’s the Matter with Michigan? The Rise and Collapse of an Economic Wonder

To Rebuild the Economy, People are the Best Investment

Louis Uchitelle is absolutely correct that President-elect Barack Obama’s spending plan may fail – or worse, backfire (“Maybe It Can’t: A Trap in Obama’s Spending Plan,” Week in Review, Dec. 21). Spending on infrastructure, even green infrastructure, is a relatively slow, low-return investment. To rebuild the economy right now, we need fast, high-return investment, public . . . → Read More: To Rebuild the Economy, People are the Best Investment

How to Thaw Credit, Now and Forever by Mason Gaffney

In The Great Crash of 2008, Mason Gaffney explained our current crisis as a manifestation of the roughly eighteen year real estate cycle–disastrously amplified by bad policy. Now he has published a sequel: How to Thaw Credit, Now and Forever. His solution may shock some readers, especially if they haven’t seen his earlier essay: Stimulus: . . . → Read More: How to Thaw Credit, Now and Forever by Mason Gaffney

Elasticity! Why cutting gas taxes won’t lower prices, but will fatten oil companies

When Clinton and McCain proposed cutting gas taxes, I asked my environmental economics students, “So how much do you think drivers will save?” The students diligently Googled the numbers. “Well,” said one, “the federal gas tax is 18.4 cents and the average state tax is 28.6 cents, so that’s 47 cents a gallon drivers will . . . → Read More: Elasticity! Why cutting gas taxes won’t lower prices, but will fatten oil companies

Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You With the Bill) by David Cay Johnston

Remy Welling, an IRS tax auditor, had a problem. In December 2002, her boss asked her to sign off on an audit that hadn’t yet begun, essentially giving a company an advance free pass. She refused, and began investigating. Pretty soon, she discovered what the company was up to: changing the issue date of options . . . → Read More: Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You With the Bill) by David Cay Johnston