In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed column, Martin Feldstein – a well known economist of Reagan Administration fame – decries the Federal Reserve’s continued tax cuts as a solution to the imminent economic recession in the U.S. Feldstein argues that rate cuts will be ineffective at preventing a recession due to our fouled credit market and glut of unsold houses, while the cuts may worsen the food crisis in developing countries abroad. How could U.S. interest rates at home possibly worsen food crises in countries like Egypt, South Africa, and Haiti? According to Feldstein, the interaction of lower Federal...

As Wall Street puts a low rating on municipal bonds, the cost of improving schools, roads and bridges goes up... cost that gets passed on to the taxpayer in the form of higher fees and interest on public debt. States and Cities Start Rebelling on Bond Ratings: Does Wall Street underrate Main Street? - 3 March 2008 - The New York Times...

The California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) today released its Proposed Decision on Issues Relating to Future Savings Goals and Program Planning for 2009-2011 Energy Efficiency and Beyond. The Decision lays out recommendations (many of which will likely turn into rules) on how to move into the future with California's already effective Demand-Side Management and End-Use Energy Efficiency programs. California has been in the energy efficiency game longer than most governments, and in the past 30 years California policy has severely curtailed per-capita energy demand growth. The state's efforts serve as a models for other states and nations implementing their own...

Equal Pay Day passed us by with few fireworks here in Berkeley (though lord knows our friends in Oakland got enough of those on Sunday), which surprised me because it also seemed like one of those juicy red meat... er... blue meat issues for the left. Regardless of the merits, concern over the gender pay gap ought to be entirely palatable to moderates and even right-of-center women. But what of those pesky merits? Well, I'm of two minds. The cold-hearted-bastard economist in me appreciated the way Reason Magazine diffused some of the alarmism of the equal pay debate. Yes, on...

On January 11th, the House of Representatives for the second time approved – it was first passed in 2006, and subsequently vetoed – a bill to allow federal support for research using stem cells extracted from leftover embryos that fertility clinics would otherwise discard, in an attempt to end a funding moratorium initiated in 2001 by the Bush administration. Stem cell research involves extracting stem cells from human embryos that are a few days old. The embryos are destroyed in the process, raising important ethical questions about the sanctity of human life and whether it is appropriate to use human...

Ford announced yesterday that they would offer buyouts to many of their employees, as part of a massive restructuring to get the company back to profitability.  Malcolm Gladwell and others have argued that private health care and pension costs are hamstringing Big Business and Big Manufacturing here in the US, compared to foreign companies who benefit from their home countries' public systems.

It looks like the UAW has signed off on Ford's buyout program, as they did with GM's earlier.  This approval is probably necessary for Ford to move forward with its reform.

My question is (for Chris Finn perhaps):  why don't the unions demand an unequivocal statement from Ford that they would support a more robust public health care system?  The details probably wouldn't be too important:
"Ford and other flagship American companies are under great financial stress from the lack of a public health care and pension systems.  We compete with foreign firms that enjoy the freedom to focus on their core business, rather than benefit management.  Ford and the UAW stand together and urge Washington to take this incredible burden off of American business and help make American firms competetive in the globalized economy."  Yadda Yadda.

Just getting them on the record (even if Ford didn't back it with campaign contributions or political support) might change the health care debate's frame to "business competetiveness" or "pro-business".  Frames which probably increase the liklihood of enactment of a comprehensive reform program.

So, why don't the UAW and other unions make this a plank in any buyout (and, perhaps, collective bargaining) agreements?  Would they have to trade that much for such a statement?

While watching the Academy Awards tonight, the President of the AAMPS mentioned that six movies are being filmed in New Orleans employing over 600 locals. It was news to me. I wouldn't have thought of filmmaking as part of the recovery effort. But just like tourism it was (is?) a flourishing source of revenue in the city. At the state level is the Governor's Office of Film & TV, appropriately part of the Louisiana Department of Economic Development, and the city has the same bureaucracy. The state offers tax incentives to productions that spend over $250,000 in Louisiana within a 12 month period. One of interesting conditions is that the production must pay all state sales tax on purchases made in connection with production. Without knowing more about the LA tax system I won't venture a guess as to how the city of New Orlaesns shares the revenue. But of course production revenue doesn't stop with tax revenue, since the crew takes full advantage of local economy.

A post I left a few weeks ago about the strange connection between employment and healthcare, apparently mirrors a debate that took place in 2000 between Adam Gopnik and Malcolm Gladwell in the Washington Monthly.
A number of blogs have recently resurrected the debate, in which Gopnik and Gladwell discuss the merits of the Canadian system. Malcolm Gladwell, who once took the role of the single-payer skeptic, has come around. He tells the tale in his new blog. It's actually a two parter.

It's worth a read, especially for his simplistic but effective comparison of healthcare to public transportation.

Are Americans building a house of straw by spending more than they earn?

The US Department of Commerce recently released its monthly report on national savings for December 2005. For the first time since 1932 and 1933, Americans spent more than they brought in for an entire year.

What's going on?

The cover of Time Magazine this week shows that the editors still have a sense of humor. Smiling, arms akimbo in a Ford manufacturing plant stands William C. Ford Jr. next to the words “Would You Buy a New Car from This Man.” The funny thing is, just Monday Ford announced it would shut down 14 plants and layoff 30,000 workers as part of its massive revitalization plan begun in 2002. Sure new cars will still be manufactured, but Ford was once a company that raised wages so that employees could afford the cars they assembled. I can think of several thousand people who won’t be interested in buying a Ford this year.