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Deficit

Time to Try Government as Employer of Last Resort

Marshall Auerback | Posted 11.17.2009 | Business

Read More: Deficit, Roosevelt-Institute, Social Security, Unemployment, Federal Deficit, New Deal 2.0, Herbert Hoover, Business News
Marshall Auerback

The president still seems curiously hamstrung by his Herbert Hoover-like devotion to fiscal rectitude: he wants to spend but not add "one dime to the deficit."

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Paul Krugman: Germany's Jobs, Unemployment Miracle Can Teach US

New York Times | PAUL KRUGMAN | Posted 11.17.2009 | Business

Read More: Larry Summers, Economy, Jobs Created, Jobs, Obama, Policy, Unemployment Rate, Deficit, White House, Unemployment, Germany, Brownshirts, New Jobs, Gdp Policy, Jobs Policy, Us Unemployment, New Deal, Works Progress Administration, Democrats, Stimulus, Recession, Unemployment Numbers, Great Depression, Labor, Labor Market, Gdp, Glenn Beck, Job Creation, Jobs Lost, Republicans, Business News

Germany's jobs miracle hasn't received much attention in this country -- but it's real, it's striking, and it raises serious questions about whether t...

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Afghan Escalation Would Make One-Year Pentagon Budget Almost As Big as Entire 10-Year Health Bill

David Sirota | Posted 11.16.2009 | Politics

Read More: Deficit, Afghanistan, Politics News
David Sirota

Only in Washington is a big return on taxpayer investment and a $109 billion reduction in the deficit an example of something that's "costly" to taxpayers.

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High Cost Of War Weighs On Obama's Troop Decision For Afghanistan

New York Times | CHRISTOPHER DREW | Posted 11.14.2009 | World

Read More: Pentagon, Deficit, Cost of War, Karzai, Afghanistan War, White House, Afghanistan, Budget, Kabul, Obama, Cost of Afghanistan War, Hamid Karzai, World News

While President Obama's decision about sending more troops to Afghanistan is primarily a military one, it also has substantial budget implications tha...

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Where Are the Real Deficit Hawks?

David Sirota | Posted 11.13.2009 | Politics

Read More: Deficit, Department of Defense, Health Care, Politics News
David Sirota

If the Great Depression taught us anything, it is that slashing spending in the name of deficit reduction is a great way to exacerbate a bad economic situation.

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White House Looking To Cut Deficit With Extra TARP Cash

wsj.com | By DEBORAH SOLOMON and JONATHAN WEISMAN | Posted 11.12.2009 | Politics

Read More: Taxes, Recovery, House, Bush, Federal Deficit, Afghanistan, Economy, Deficit Reduction, Budget Deficit, Tax Breaks, Troubled Asset Relief Program, Recession, Deficit, Politics, Bailout, Spending Cuts, Spending, Tim Geithner, Iraq War, Tax Cuts, The Fed, Treasury, Hank Paulson, Ben Bernanke, Senate, Tarp, Tax Increases, Politics News

The Obama administration, under pressure to show it is serious about tackling the budget deficit, is seizing on an unusual target to showcase fiscal r...

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Bernanke Solves the Wrong Deficit

Eric Lotke | Posted 10.21.2009 | Business

Read More: Deficit, Ben Bernanke, Trade Deficit, Trade, Business News
Eric Lotke

Ironically, the recession has been good for our trade deficit. We can't buy as much and don't have as much money to spend. But it can't last and we don't want it to.

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Bob Herbert: Why "Too Big To Fail" Is A Bailout For The Rich

nytimes.com | BOB HERBERT | Posted 10.20.2009 | Business

Read More: Bob Herbert, Financial Crisis, Deficit, Wall Street, Too Big to Fail, Business News

Why should the general public have to constantly worry that a misstep by the high-wire artists at Goldman Sachs (to take the most obvious example) wou...

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Washington Is Nuts

Tony Blankley | Posted 10.15.2009 | Politics

Read More: Health Care Reform, Deficit, Health Care Debate, Federal Deficit, Health Care, Politics News
Tony Blankley

The greatest systemic risk to our economy is not Wall Street. It's the growing federal debt being enacted by those Washington politicians -- the ones who want to protect us from Wall Street.

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The American People: Smarter Than They Look on TV

Eric Lotke | Posted 10.14.2009 | Business

Read More: Polls, Investments, Public Opinion, Deficit, Economy, Business News
Eric Lotke

If we ask the right questions or push in the right direction, the American people might come with us. Long range investments. It's work but we can get there.

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Unhappy Fiscal New Year

Rep. Jason Chaffetz | Posted 12.01.2009 | Politics

Read More: Government, Deficit, Government Debt, Fiscal Conservatives, Federal Budget Deficit, Federal Deficit, Federal Debt, Fiscal New Year, Fiscal Crisis, Fiscal Responsibility, Politics News
Rep. Jason Chaffetz

Contrary to what some have told us in the past, deficits and debts do matter, and at the levels these debts have been accumulating, they matter a lot.

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Progressives and the Budget Deficit

Dean Baker | Posted 11.28.2009 | Business

Read More: Health Care Reform, Deficit, Budget, Federal Budget Deficit, Economic Crisis, Housing Bubble, Business News
Dean Baker

There seems to be a bipartisan consensus that completely missing the biggest economic calamity in almost 80 years doesn't call into question your competence as an economic analyst. This should scare people.

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Pittsburgh Model Dramatizes Lessons for G-20 Summit

Gary Shapiro | Posted 11.23.2009 | Business

Read More: Gary Shapiro, Debt, Deficit, Innovation Movement, Consumer-Electronics-Association, Bailout, g20, Manufacturing, Free Trade, Innovation, Cea, Protectionism, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Business News
Gary Shapiro

Pittsburgh's experience offers a road map for American cities adjusting to manufacturing downturns and the new realities of the modern global economy.

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Selective Deficit Disorder

David Sirota | Posted 11.18.2009 | Politics

Read More: Deficit, Health Care, Politics News
David Sirota

If President Obama really cares about the deficit, where is his effort to seriously rein in a Pentagon budget that is far more expensive than any health care plan being debated in Congress?

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Why Government Spending Is the Solution, Not the Problem

Marshall Auerback | Posted 11.15.2009 | Politics

Read More: Government Spending, Deficit Spending, Deficit, Joe Wilson, Obama, Socialism, Health Care, Politics News
Marshall Auerback

Markets do not self-regulate in ways that avoid major financial upheavals and activist government is required as a counterbalancing force.

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Federal Deficit Hits $1.38 Trillion Through August

AP | MARTIN CRUTSINGER | Posted 11.11.2009 | Business

Read More: Deficit, Decificit August, Federal Deficit, Economy, Federal Debt, Recession, Business News

WASHINGTON — The federal deficit surged higher into record territory in August, hitting $1.38 trillion with one month left in the budget year. ...

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Affordability and the Public Option

Richard Kirsch | Posted 11.08.2009 | Politics

Read More: Blue Dogs, Health Care Reform, Deficit, Affordability, Public Option, Health Reform, Health Care, President Obama, Politics News
Richard Kirsch

At the end of the day, the way that most Americans will measure reform is by asking, "Do I have good health care that I can afford?"

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Two Deficit Questions for Budgeting Expert Linda Bilmes

Pablo Manriquez | Posted 10.22.2009 | Business

Read More: Kennedy School of Government, Deficit, U.S. Economy, Harvard, Linda Bilmes, Budget, Business News
Pablo Manriquez

Any reduction in consumer spending, whether spurned by a tax increase or not, that causes a drop in our demand for Chinese products decreases China's incentive to lend to us except at higher interest rates.

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Weekly Audit: Four More Years of Bailout Ben

The Media Consortium | Posted 10.17.2009 | Business

Read More: Taxes, Deficit, The Washington Monthly, The Nation, Weekly Audit, The Media Consortium, Federal Reserve, Economy, Zach Carter, Banks, The Real News, The Progressive, Salon, Tmc, The Uptake, In These Times, Ben Bernanke, Business News
The Media Consortium

Why is the Bernanke reappointment a mistake? Put simply, Bernanke is completely culpable for allowing an economic crisis to foment.

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Bailed-Out Banks Making Profits -- For Taxpayers

Chris Weigant | Posted 10.16.2009 | Politics

Read More: President Obama, Bail Out, Troubled Asset Relief Program, Obama, Fannie, Taxpayer, Bush, Government, Deficit, Aig, Bailout, General Motors, Insurance, Interest, Toxic Mortgage, Bank, President Bush, Tarp, Wall St, Gm, Budget, Barack Obama, Invest, Executive Compensation, Chrysler, Profits, Profit, Wall Street, Investment, Chris Weigant, Companies, Return, Investment Firms, Freddie, Banks, George W Bush, Auto, Politics News
Chris Weigant

Money wasn't just "given" to Wall Street firms. It bought something of value. And now that the firms (and the market in general) are recovering, they're starting to pay it back. With interest.

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Good Riddance, Cash for Clunkers

Alan Schram | Posted 09.30.2009 | Business

Read More: Deficit, Trade Deficit, Stimulus Package, Cash for Clunkers, Business News, Aig, Credit Crisis, China, Business News
Alan Schram

Washington is experimenting with bogus stimulus, such as the "cash for clunkers" program. Taxing Peter to subsidize Paul's new car is not a recipe for sound economic growth.

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Nouriel Roubini: How We Can Escape The Spend-And-Borrow Economy

forbes.com | Nouriel Roubini | Posted 09.27.2009 | Business

Read More: Federal Reserve, Deficit, Nouriel Roubini, Gdp, Spend-and-Borrow-Economy, Business News

In the last few months the world economy has been saved from a near-depression. That feat has been achieved by a range of extraordinary government sti...

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The President of Cool

Taylor Marsh | Posted 09.21.2009 | Politics

Read More: Deficit, Health Care Reform, Blue Dogs, Health Care, Barack Obama, Healthcare, Blue Dog Democrats, Republicans, Politics News
Taylor Marsh

Liberals are convinced that Obama's problem is passion, his lack of heat. But Barack Obama was never about heat, not ever.

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Obama Revises 10-Year Budget Deficit Up To $9 Trillion

cnbc.com | Posted 09.21.2009 | Business

Read More: Deficit, Budget Projections, $9 Billion Budget Projects, 10 Year Budget Deficit, Business News

The Obama administration will increase its 10-year budget deficit projection to roughly $9 trillion from $7.108 trillion in a report next week, a seni...

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Feeder Funds

Gershon Hepner | Posted 09.16.2009 | Business

Read More: Michiko Kakutani, Deficit, Andrew Kirtman, Fairfield Greenwich Group, Erin Ardevlund, Bernie Madoff, Ezra Merkin, Gabriel Capital Group, Business News
Gershon Hepner

There's no point asking for refunds from managers of feeder funds, who generally are quite immune to prosecution, though the tune the piper played was paid by them.

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