The IMF has just concluded its Article IV consultation with the US. The concluding statement observes:
Petition Signers Need Not Apply
Walker was for the nominee (for University of Wisconsin Board of Regents) before he was against him
Dispatches XXV: A Conjecture Regarding Lagging Employment in Wisconsin
Transvaginal probes (amended to mandated ultrasounds) and giving regressive tax cuts after slashing K-12 education expenditures probably isn’t going to draw high-technology/knowledge based workers to the state
Update on the Yield Curve
Rising Predictive Power?
The more you borrow, the more you’ll pay
A key reason to be concerned about high debt levels is very simple– you’re going to be stuck with the bill for the interest payments for the rest of your life.
Slow and Steady Employment Growth Continues
Plausible and Implausible Explanations for the lagging pace of growth
From Wisconsin Idea to Wisconsin …Something
Some implications of current legislative actions for the conduct of University of Wisconsin system research
From The Isthmus today:
The two-sentence amendment to the budget was part of an omnibus motion that was introduced by the Republican co-chairs of the state Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee and passed just before 6 a.m. It reads:
“Prohibit the Board of Regents from permitting the Center for Investigative Journalism to occupy any facilities owned or leased by the Board of Regents. In addition, prohibit UW employees from doing any work related to the Center for Investigative Journalism as part of their duties as a UW employee.”
“Global Spillovers and Economic Cycles”
That was the title of an illuminating EABCN/CEPR/Banque de France/European University Institute conference I attended last week (organized by Philippe Bacchetta, Laurent Ferrara, Jean Imbs, and Massimiliano Marcellino). The program is here, and papers here.
Wisconsin Economic Activity: April 2013
The Philadelphia Fed’s coincident indices for April are out (h/t Mike Ivey). Wisconsin economic activity as measured by this index continues to surprise, but not in a good way.
Is Social Security running out of money?
On Friday, the trustees for the Social Security and Medicare trust funds released their annual reports. A typical summary in the press is this one from the Los Angeles Times:
The trustees overseeing the finances of Social Security and Medicare issued their latest report on Friday, declaring that a) the Social Security Trust Fund is expected to run out of money in 2035, the same estimate as last year; b) Medicare’s hospital trust fund is expected to run out of money in 2026, a two-year improvement over last year’s estimate; and c) the Disability Insurance Trust Fund is expected to run out of money in 2016, just as projected last year.
Here’s why I don’t believe that’s the correct way to think about these numbers.