Krugman: U.S. Needs Death Panels, Sales Taxes.

[Goo For You]

if you took 10 countries with different economic strategies, the results would still resemble a bell curve.

Some policies matter more than others, and you need to look at every single country (pursuing a certain policy) to see if a pattern forms. Check out the graph in this article for one pretty sweet correlation:



See how well economic freedom explains income? (And as a corollary of this, how much policies that increase economic freedom may be expected to raise income.)

PS. Leftists hate this graph.

PPS. In the graph, income is defined as GDP per capita adjusted by PPP, the same metric I mentioned earlier.

[Goo For You]

Thought-provoking stuff as always:

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/201...age-economics/

Related:

http://www.nextnewdeal.net/rortybomb...ge-complements

http://mungowitzend.blogspot.com/201...imum-wage.html


Cliff notes: the standard microeconomics story of minimum wage increases leading to unemployment doesn't seem to hold in real life.

[Avery]

Riveting stuff from Krugs, Goo. The world won't end if minimum wage is raised a buck and chage. Blew my mind.

[Goo For You]

Considering the minimum wage --> unemployment story is one of the sacred cows of right-wing economics, I thought you'd be defensive about it. That sarcastic comment gained you some nice non-partisan creds. And here's a bonus prize, since you seem to be interested in Japan:

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/201...e-performance/

(Decrease in number of working age adults makes GDP numbers look worse than they really are.)

[MatthewT]

Looks like I managed to press an interesting button.

In your ideal world, would it be evil for a farmer to secure his family's livelihood through a futures contract? That is to say, would he be allowed to buy insurance against times when large crops elsewhere bring down the price of his produce near zero? Or would there be, for example, a giant central planner enforcing price controls on everyone?

it's not my ideal world; it's Jesus' world, and it's coming soon.

in Jesus' world, the harvesters don't have time to gather in the harvest before the plowmen are nipping at their heels.

[MatthewT]

Will you let go of your foolish pride when the rapture comes? You'd better or you'll be stuck with us heathens

Also, who are you to judge if I have repented or not? First simple pride, now you are playing God

[RiotGrip]

Not gonna address how you played God by judging weather or not I repented huh? I thougt so, you religious types always love to judge others despite specific teachings of God to not do so.

[MatthewT]

Not gonna address how you played God by judging weather or not I repented huh? I thougt so, you religious types always love to judge others despite specific teachings of God to not do so.

you can always tell a tree by its fruit

[MatthewT]

[RiotGrip]

you can always tell a tree by its fruit

Oh ok so that right there gives you full right to pass judgement on others that you don't know despite warnings of such behavior in the bible. Makes sense

[Goo For You]

it's not my ideal world; it's Jesus' world, and it's coming soon.

Maybe I was too young to spot this angle in Sunday school, but I don't recall Jesus being such a Malthusian.

Can you quote me some scriptures where he praises subsistence farming? (I.e. not the virtue of farming in general, but that of not elevating oneself over the struggle against starvation.)

[Goo For You]

Wait, is that dinosaur doctor supposed to be RiotGrip who believes in evolution???

If so, I have way underestimated the fundamentalists' sense of humor!!

[MatthewT]

Maybe I was too young to spot this angle in Sunday school, but I don't recall Jesus being such a Malthusian.

Can you quote me some scriptures where he praises subsistence farming? (I.e. not the virtue of farming in general, but that of not elevating oneself over the struggle against starvation.)

Amos 9:13 NKJV New King James Version
"Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it.

[MatthewT]

Wait, is that dinosaur doctor supposed to be RiotGrip who believes in evolution???

If so, I have way underestimated the fundamentalists' sense of humor!!

i'm an acquired taste

[RiotGrip]

Wait, is that dinosaur doctor supposed to be RiotGrip who believes in evolution???

If so, I have way underestimated the fundamentalists' sense of humor!!

You didn't underestimate MattT, the dinosaur/t-rex joke is based on a creepy stalking of me by AsshathewT which rewarded him with a picture of me that he thought resembled a t-rex. Despite his utter fascination with me and persistence to continue calling me a t-rex, he has never had the balls to actually post the pic despite me giving him permission to do so. What can you expect from a creationist who is the total victim of darwinism.

[MatthewT]

who inspired your profile description and signature?

[RiotGrip]

who inspired your profile description and signature?

[MatthewT]

o u madmad now

[RiotGrip]

o u madmad now

You asked a question, I wanted to answer with a bit of flair.

[I invented that]

(Decrease in number of working age adults makes GDP numbers look worse than they really are.)

then can it also be said that the stimulus infusion made gdp numbers look better than they really were?