The NIPA release of January 31 contained a couple of surprises, including on the international front. The external accounts did provide a bit of a kick on growth, as shown in Jim Hamilton’s post.
Category Archives: deficits
Army Transformation sacrificed on the altar of …(a) tax cuts, (b) Iraq, (c) other
Or, “opportunity cost illustrated” redux. From GovExec.com:
Bernanke and the Social Security Trust Fund
I would like to join Felix Salmon [1],
[2]
in suggesting that Dean Baker has mischaracterized both Fed Chair Ben Bernanke’s remarks to the Congress as well as the substantive policy questions on the table.
Bernanke on the deficit
In testimony before the Senate Budget Committee yesterday, Fed Chair Ben Bernanke once again tells it like it is.
Federal Government Interest Payments Rising
The Treasury Department reported a steady rate of purchases of Treasuries by foreigners (see the Bloomberg account here). Let’s hope that continues — although we should be cognizant of the ramifications: increasing debt and interest payments to foreigners.
Escalation and Accidental Military Keynesianism
Under plausible assumptions, Fiscal Year ’07 expenditures for operations in Iraq will come close to 1 percentage point of GDP. What will be the impact on the U.S. economy?
The Wartime Economy and Tax Policy
So Shinseki was right.
International Economics at the AEA/ASSA: Selected Items
The Allied Social Sciences Association (incorporating the AEA, the Econometric Society, the International Economics and Finance Society and many other groups) meetings took place in Chicago this last weekend. I wasn’t able to go to that many sessions, but I did attend a few related to international issues.
President Bush on Economics
On Wednesday, the President writes in a Wall Street Journal op-ed (sub. req.):
Is Decoupling Possible?
The dream rebalancing scenario, in which adjustment of the world’s imbalances occurs without fiscal responsibility returning to America, relies upon “decoupling”.