The media are not doing president elect Barack Obama many favors.   The fawning over Mr. Obama during the campaign was rightly criticized as cheer leading. The fact that it continues after the election will lead to disappointment, disillusion and a very tough time for the country and Obama.The praise and analysis have been a mile wide, and less than an inch deep and the coming crash could be disaster writ large on the history of America.  I'm not speaking of an economic cra... Read Full Story

Congress, the president and just about every other politician in Washington continue to address the fiscal crisis, and the impending economic crisis by trying to stimulate consumption.  But a look back in time shows us that this may not be the correct approach.  Say's Law, the work of Jean Baptiste Say, states that there can be no demand without supply, and further that recession is not caused by a lack of demand, or a lack of money.  A further implication is that the creat... Read Full Story

Charles Krauthammer and economist Walter Williams are among a chorus of voices who appear to be more tolerant of higher tax rates on the wealthy.  Both have pointed to the Eisenhower administration and the very high marginal tax rates on wealthy Americans.  While it is true the tax rates in the 1950's were very high, the comparison is not really based on good data.  The reason I say this is that during this period of time, much of the worlds manufacturing and transportation... Read Full Story

The only possible excuse for this is laziness, and that's a hard pill to swallow.  York's piece in the National Review was clearly mocking the one sided coverage of the press. So what does CNN do?  Well, they decide to throw Sara Palin under the bus in an attempt to get back at National Review. My friends, this is despicable behavior.  I would hope that even those on the far left would realize that Drew Griffin and CNN are the top the Hitler and Stalin relied on to k... Read Full Story

After the ship of fools we call congress voted about a trillion dollars of our money to bail out a mess they had created, the state of California has decided to come to the American people with her hand out.  I say, not one nickel.The state spends 10.5 billion dollars alone on illegal immigration.  A problem they have decided time and time again (especially San Francisco) not to address.  The people of California have had ample opportunity to vote out the backwards legislators ... Read Full Story

Why are so many big companies struggling?  The quick and easy answer is of course the credit crisis, but it isn't the whole story.  General Electric has been in a funk for years now.  Many companies that had exposure to sub-prime risks, collapsed far beyond what the risk itself should have caused.  Why is this?Chief Executive Officers got lazy and fat. Their companies followed suit.Executives in big corporations wanted to play the sexy side of high finance and high ris... Read Full Story

The bailout, (and make no mistake, this was a bailout) of 2008 is passed and the money will be spent.  How far this will go to opening credit is still anyone's guess.  The Fed is expected to lower interest rates as well.  Monetary policy alone won't stop the coming economic onslaught.  If we look to the past we see that there is quite a bit more work to be done. And congress must act quickly.  The next step is a drastic lowering of capital gains tax rates. His... Read Full Story

I think most of us are glad the bailout failed. Will we get a better plan?  How about we "facilitate" the buyouts with the private sector?Let government (we the taxpayers) be the buyer of last resort, instead of first.Unwind the securities and pull out the good mortgages and sell them first.Let the homeowners who are close to foreclosure have right of first refusal on a refi, at the bailout price.And then we can get to work on fixing the economy in about twelve to eighteen mont... Read Full Story

Just before the Great Depression, Benjamin Strong as head of the Federal Reserve gave the stock market what he called a "coup de whiskey".  This was designed to be an injection of capital aimed to lifting the markets.  Clearly this attempt to buttress the market didn't work.  Fast forward eighty years and Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke, George W. Bush and the Democrats in congress (along with a few confused Republicans) are attempting another shot of whiskey to calm ... Read Full Story

The fear is everywhere.  If you are under 40 years old, and not a student of history, most of this is new to you. You probably are afraid that your entire world is about to come apart at the seems.   And if you are an honest and intelligent person, you may be struggling to decide which candidate is the best choice to fix this mess.  You struggle because it is clear, neither of these fine gentlemen posses a clear understanding of economics.Neither John McCain or Barack Obam... Read Full Story