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Why the White House Is Panicking About Obamacare

"About one in every four individuals who are eligible for Medicaid in this country has not bothered to enroll. About one in five employees who are offered employer-provided health insurance turns it down; among workers under 30 years of age, the refusal rate is almost one in three. Think about that for a moment. Millions of people are turning down (Medicaid) health insurance, even though it’s free! Millions of others are turning down their employers’ offers. Welcome to the huge disconnect in health reform. On the one hand there are the people who are supposed to benefit from health reform. On the other hand there are the people who talk about it and write about it." Continue reading →

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Missouri lawmaker wants ‘personal exemption’ from Obamacare birth control mandate

"A Catholic state legislator from Missouri has filed suit with the U.S. District Court in St. Louis asking that his family be exempted from the contraception coverage mandate section of the Affordable Care Act, also known as 'Obamacare.' According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, state Rep. Paul Wieland (R) said that the provision, which stipulates that insurance companies offer birth control pills and other forms of pregnancy prevention at no cost to policy-holders, violates his First Amendment right to religious freedom." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMissouri lawmaker wants ‘personal exemption’ from Obamacare birth control mandate

How the Fed Goes Bust With Richard Ebeling

"Little ink has been spilled about the Austrian economists, such as Friedrick Hayek, Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard. So we've taken it upon ourselves to interview someone who knew two of them personally. Bob speaks with Richard Ebeling, economics professor at Northwood, about quantitative easing and the future of Bernanke's so-called 'exit.' Then Perianne explores US aid to Egypt and the problems with doling out money to foreign groups. Finally Bob duels Prime Interest regular, Sam Sacks on the BP oil settlement and intellectual property rights." Continue reading →

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How Nixon the Keynesian Destroyed the Monetary Regime of Keynes

"Richard Nixon made a lot of bad decisions, but this one was his worst. This one has had long-term consequences far beyond anything he ever imagined. We are now trapped by the Federal Reserve, which buys $1 trillion worth of government debt every year. If it stops, we will get into another major recession. So far, there are few signs the Federal Reserve is going to stop. From 1965 until 1971, foreign governments and central banks could put pressure on the Federal Reserve to stop its expansion of money. All the government or the central bank had to do was order gold at $35 an ounce. That leverage ceased 42 years ago." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow Nixon the Keynesian Destroyed the Monetary Regime of Keynes

Bill Bonner: America’s faith-based economy

"Did Mary really ascend to Heaven on this day? Was she really a virgin? Did she really give birth to the son of God? You need faith to believe such things. Likewise, you need faith to believe that a piece of green paper is ‘money’. You are also supposed to believe that its managers will make sure this ‘money’ holds its purchasing power even as they do their damnedest to undermine it. But to believe that you need more than faith. You need a full frontal lobotomy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: America’s faith-based economy

Detroit, Demographics and Detonation

"The baby boom generation is an abnormality. It was the byproduct of halcyon days — not that we knew it at the time. But as we have seen in Detroit, when demographics shift from production to pension, there is trouble ahead. Low birth rates combined with a plethora of maturing adults on the cusp of retirement turns the pyramid of society on its head. Lower growth in itself is not a bad thing. We are still moving forward. The problem is certain promises (welfare and health commitments) have been made that cannot be kept if growth does not return to around the 3% mark. Putting this genie back in the bottle is going to be a political nightmare." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDetroit, Demographics and Detonation

Rising Inequality and Poverty: Can They Be Fixed?

"Societies can choose between two forms of relatively stable but impoverishing feudalism--stagnant backwater or financial--or accept the existential risks of embracing innovation and experimentation, not just in narrow technological fields but across the entire economy, society and government. Incentivizing the values that favor wealth creation--thrift, investing, improving skills, entrepreneurial drive, flexibility, strong families--may be just as important as leveling the playing field, i.e. maintaining opportunity via maintaining access to education and social capital building." Continue reading →

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The Ph.D Bust: America’s Awful Market for Young Scientists—in 7 Charts

"Politicians and businessmen are fond of talking about America's scientist shortage -- the dearth of engineering and lab talent that will inevitably leave us sputtering in the global economy. But perhaps it's time they start talking about our scientist surplus instead. I am by no means the first person to make this point. But I was compelled to try and illustrate it after reading a report from Inside Higher Ed. In short, job prospects for young science Ph.D.'s haven't been looking so hot these last few years, not only in the life sciences, which have been weak for some time, but also in fields like engineering." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Ph.D Bust: America’s Awful Market for Young Scientists—in 7 Charts

Fmr. Comptroller David Walker: To help end budget gimmicks, pass this bill

"This bill, also championed by the youth-led 'The Can Kicks Back' campaign, would make it more difficult for Washington politicians to kick the can down the road by providing information about the long-term impact of today’s unsustainable fiscal policy. Specifically, the INFORM Act would expose two important but often ignored realities. First, with an aging population, rising healthcare costs and mounting interest expense, federal spending is set to automatically and dramatically increase the 'mandatory' part of our budget. Second, young people and future generations will disproportionately shoulder the burden of our fiscal imbalance." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFmr. Comptroller David Walker: To help end budget gimmicks, pass this bill

U. of California economist says real US debt $70 trillion, not $16 trillion

"James Hamilton believes the government leaving out certain unfunded liabilities that include government loan guarantees, deposit insurance, and actions taken by the Federal Reserve as well as the cost of other government trust funds, which bring the total amount the government owes to a staggering $70 trillion, he says. 'The biggest off-balance-sheet liabilities come from recognition of the fiscal stress that will come in the form of an aging population and rising medical expenditures,' Hamilton says, adding, 'There are many historical episodes in which off-balance sheet liabilities ended up having quite significant on-balance sheet implications.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU. of California economist says real US debt $70 trillion, not $16 trillion