Category Archives: Economy

‘The Economics of Ann Romney’

Democrats, Economy, Elections, Family, Feminism, Gender, Morality, Republicans

“Ann Romney is economically a hell of a lot smarter than Hilary Rosen,” concludes Kevin D. Williamson, in a neat column wherein, taking into account “scarcity of economic resources and scarcity of parental time,” and weighing these against the utmost top dollar the lovely Mrs. Romney might have commanded, Kevin calculates that Ann Romney would have been stark raving mad to have abandoned her gorgeous kids to the deprivations of daycare.

Not when the much-maligned Mr. Romney was bringing in “about $6,400 an hour at Bain Capital.”

Nice, if reductive, column, for after all, it is indeed likely that the Romneys would have made the same decisions were Mitt less successful. Values are irreducible.

“Democratic operative Hilary Rosen — who sneered that [Ann Romney] ‘has actually never worked a day in her life'”—wishes she were a quality babe who could attract a catch like Mitt Romney.

(Tinny ideologues should note that I do not support Romney, but this does not rob me of objectivity, as it does the robotic ideologue. I appreciate many of Mitt Romney’s qualities.)

The US Vs. The EU

Debt, Economy, EU, Europe, Labor

When broadcaster Lou Dobbs took to the blackboard, I got a bit of a fright. Flashbacks of Glenn Beck’s not-so-wonderful-mind moments, I suppose. But no. Mr. Dobbs drives home the severity of the situation stateside, by juxtaposing the American economy to certain Eurozone countries.

Take into account, however, that GDP measures the Brownian Motion of debt growth. The unreliability of the indices (unemployment, etc.) used, in general, means that matters are far worse.

Debt as a percentage of GDP:

France: 86%
Italy: 120% (“In a hot mess”)
Greece: 165% (“In a world of its own”)
US: 101%

Economic Growth (take into account, however, that GDP measures the Brownian Motion of debt growth):

France & the US: 1.7% growth
Greece: 7% contraction
Italy & Spain: 1/2% growth

Average age at retirement:

US: 65 years
France: 59
Italy: 60
Greece & Germany: 61
Spain: 62

Labor-Force Participation (this ought to shake you up):

US: 63.6% (“A thirty year low.”)
Greece: 71%
France: 72%
Italy: 75%
Spain & Germany: 76%

I would hazard a guess that the Europeans best us in workforce participation because they have more onerous labor regulations. This is cold comfort, of course.

Happy Meal Time for US Students

Debt, Democracy, Economy, Education, Elections, Republicans, Socialism, Welfare

“Happy Meal Time for US Students” is my new column. Here is an excerpt:

“Barack Obama has promised America’s miseducated Millenials to keep the student-loan bubble from bursting. Campaigning in Iowa, the president vowed to keep college affordable, because, like every other welfare and warfare program, it “is at the heart of who we are.”

Interest rates for Federal Stafford Loans are set to double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, on July 1. You just know how bad things are when a socialized financial market like student loans attempts to correct itself. Nevertheless, if the glut of miseducation is to be curbed, higher interest rates are healthy.

Why the president’s promise? The Twenty-Sixth Amendment, smuggled into the Constitution by statute, artificially swelled the ranks of Democratic voters by millions of eighteen-, nineteen-, and twenty-year-olds. While they don’t work for a living, youngsters get to vote for dibs on the livelihood of those who do.

It’s Happy Meal time for the nation’s students….”

Read the complete column, “Happy Meal Time for US Students.”

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Till Debt Do the US Apart

Debt, Economy, EU, Europe, Foreign Aid, Foreign Policy

In “One Nation Under Inflation,” I noted that “America’s debt-to-GDP ratio is larger than the European Union’s.” I was unaware that US debt “is greater than the combined debt of the entire Eurozone and the U.K.”

America’s debt is currently $15.1 trillion, while the Eurozone (which includes France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, the U.K., and others) has a combined debt of $12.7 trillion. (All dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars, and the data refers to closing 2011 numbers.)
The Eurozone is larger than the United States, so America’s debt per capita also exceeds the Eurozone’s. According to the Census Bureau, the U.S. has a population of 313 million, whereas the Eurozone has a population in excess of 331 million.

(Weekly Standard)

Nary a mentioned was made of this apparently minor fact on Fox Business, while the Fox Business anchors discussed Christine Lagarde’s demands for more billions in bailouts from the US to the EU. “More firepower” is how the managing director of the International Monetary Fund described her agency’s requirements.

It’s Lagarde’s prerogative to ask for money to increase her bureaucracy’s sphere of influence. It’s the obligation of the ass with ears who leads the USA to turn her down.

So, it’s not Lagarde’s asking that ought to worry; it’s the fact that, according to Fox News, she expressed confidence that the US would do the “right” thing by her.