By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
Not until Rob Jackson wrapped his hands around another Tony Romo "oops" Sunday night could Washington Redskins fans begin to savor the moment.
A stable dollar and prices are consistent with maximum sustainable job and wealth creation. However, the Fed's dual mandate to pursue full employment and price stability has given it license to meddle in the economy to boost short-term employment, with disastrous consequences.
The minutes of the Dec. 13 meeting of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors revealed the Fed is adopting the strategy of being more transparent when communicating its intent on the movement of short-term interest rates.
Just as the outlook for the U.S. economy finally brightened in recent weeks, the darkening clouds in Europe threaten to overshadow budding signs of growth.
"I'd prop him up and put a pair of dark glasses on him and keep him as long as I could."
Should the Federal Reserve be abolished as Rep. Ron Paul and others have demanded? The Republican presidential candidates have agreed that they would like to replace Ben S. Bernanke as chairman of the Fed, and many have been equally critical of former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan. The view that both Mr. Bernanke and Mr. Greenspan have done poor jobs is also shared by many economists and financial writers. But, if not Mr. Bernanke, who? And if not the Fed, what?
Arnold Schwarzenegger has a book deal.
Congress' chief scorekeeper effectively shortened the window for the new deficit supercommittee to reach a deal, saying Tuesday that if lawmakers are going to meet their Thanksgiving deadline, his office will need to see an agreement at the beginning of November.
In a world taken up with wars, terrorism, earthquakes, tsunamis, radiation, rising food prices and a possible famine in North Korea, there's a quiet fundamental debate going on.
The science of foretelling was apparently revered by the ancients. But in most of the Western world, fortune telling has lost its potency — that is, unless the fortune teller happens to be a scientist, pollster or economist.
Mark Zandi, Moody's Analytics chief economist, has become an oracle of sorts on Capitol Hill, where members of both parties have recited his financial forecasts in an attempt to seize the high ground in battles over stimulus packages, deficit reduction plans and the tax cuts enacted during the George W. Bush administration.
"If only we had sold our stocks a few weeks ago." "If only I'd had the brakes checked before she drove up to the mountains." There are few sadder words than those of regret at letting time pass until the catastrophe hits. Neither individuals nor armies nor nations are exempt from the human tendency to wait too long before acting - and paying a terrible price for the delay.
Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows:
Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows:
When then-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan artificially lowered interest rates in 2003 and 2004, it popped the housing bubble and allowed toxic subprime mortgages to poison the global economy. Since late 2008, when the recession became a reality for many people, the Federal Reserve dropped the interest rate from 2 percent to zero by the middle of 2009. Current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke now thinks the economy will resurrect itself if interest rates are kept near zero.
Meanwhile, in bowels of FedEx Field, a TV commentator who looked an awful lot like Andrea Mitchell turned to a former Federal Reserve chairman who looked an awful lot like Alan Greenspan and said, happily, "Home-field advantage."
Mr. Greenspan also frequently noted that the fast pace of change has led to a pervasive sense of job insecurity in the U.S. as workers feel more dispensable than they were in earlier eras.
The Mean Economy: IBM workers suffer culture change as jobs go global →
