Have you ever wondered why economists get it wrong so often when it comes to predicting the direction of the economy, the stock market, and so many other matters economic and financial? Here’s the reason… The Problem With Economists An economist is a brilliant chap Who studies the markets hard and long, Which raises this question in many minds: Why is he much of the time so wrong? After giving this matter considerable thought And pondering why the condition persists, I conclude it comes...

Every four years we hear pundits proclaim that this could be one of the most significant elections in recent U.S. history. Usually it isn’t. The reason is that most of these elections pit two middle-of-the-road national parties with much the same views of government, give or take a few nuances, against one another, and the big decision for voters tends to involve one specific contemporary issue — not infrequently a foreign policy issue like a war (in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq). Once in awhile,...

During an interview with CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, Mitt Romny offered this observation: “I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. It was not the first part of this shabby comment that I found so odd. Why, after all, would a Republican candidate for president be concerned about the very poor? It was the part about fixing the safety net if it needed repairs. What’s that one all about? Its something someone...

Think tanks have become extraordinarily important in generating the ideas and the rhetoric that permeate our politics — often for the worse. This poem is a first person account of a typical think tanker’s rise to prominence… The Think Tank Song For many long years I felt ineffectual A misunderstood and ignored intellectual My theories (though brilliant) were hooted and hissed By colleagues and others their value dismissed. But still I did labor to make them more statable In hopes that...

Today’s New York Times features an article headlined “Goldman Ties Enrich Public and Private Life for Romney.” It details how the likely Republican candidate for president not only keeps his family money tucked away with the corporate face of Wall Street, Goldman Sachs, but is getting much of his campaign money channeled from this same outfit. My, my. Stories such as these will likely appear with great frequency this election season for a very simple reason: Most Americans either...

A lot of people are confused about the financial mess that Greece is in, and the EU’s attempts to rescue the country’s finances. But it’s really quite simple… Greece’s Present Financial Situation Explained (In Rhyme) Banks lend money to banks To lend to banks to lend to Greece Which uses it to pay the debt On bills unmet To banks that lent to banks Who now have fears Of debt regret. The object of this exercise Appeasement of the market In hopes more banks Will heed the...

There’s no constitutional requirement that the Supreme Court have nine justices. In fact, through much of the nineteenth century, this number fluctuated between six and nine several times. FDR’s Judicial Reorganization Bill in 1937 sought to increase that number dramatically in order to fill the court with more liberal justices, a notorious “pack-the-court” effort that went down in flames — though some historians suspect that it had the indirect effect of making the court...

I live in Pennsylvania. The state is in the process of introducing an asset requirement to receive food stamps. And they are doing it in an astonishing cruel and stupid way. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with having a personal asset limit to qualify for food stamps. Why should the government pay the food bill of the wealthy? But the amount of assets one should be able to retain and still qualify, which in Pennsylvania is just $2,000 (excluding home and a car) is just plain cuckoo. People...

What kind of people go to Republican candidate debates these days? What kind of people cheer when one of the aspirants at the podium in this field of bad dreams makes fun of food stamp recipients, the majority of whom are children. What kind of country do we live in today when a candidate for the presidency from one of our national parties not only seeks to protect the wealth of the wealthiest at all costs, but would take food out of the mouths of the needy? We no longer seem to dwell in a land...

No. It’s not your imagination. You’re not a conspiracy hysteric. There is a force out there that is controlling our economic, political and social lives to an extraordinary extent, reducing one of the most sacred traditional rights of a free society, privacy, to increasing irrelevance. To give it a name, call it the MASC — the Marketing-Security Complex. In a 1961 speech, President Dwight Eisenhower used a term akin to this, the Military-Industrial Complex (MIC), sometimes rendered...

Whacking Wall Street should be a major 2012 campaign theme for President Obama. Most of the country is still angry at The Street for helping bring about the present unending recession, for its huge pay packets while most on Main Street have been forced to tighten their belts. And this anger is as strong among Tea Partiers as lefties. On top of this, Mr. Obama’s very likely Republican opponent next November, Mitt Romney, is a near perfect face for a Wall Street dart board. He’s a big business,...

Why is poetry no longer one of the primary forms of political analysis and commentary in this country? The answer to this question might seem obvious. Most media, at least the high profile print, broadcast and online media accessed by most people on a regular basis, no longer view poetry as an appropriate means of political analysis and commentary — a view largely shared by most American poets whose work these days tends to deal with subjects and in ways best-suited for the pages of small literary...

In nineteen hundred four and sixty, When staying stoned seemed real nifty, I thought age made one dull and nerdy, And trusted no one over thirty. The years have passed, my views have changed, My valuations rearranged, I now judge young folks shallow, drifty, And trust no one who ain’t reached fifty. Soon from this author: This God-Awful Political Season (In Verse)

I just finished making my New Year’s resolutions. I’m a little late this year because the final games of the regular NFL season were being played over the weekend. I’ve finally completed this important task, however. So here’s my 2012 must-do list: 1. Give up smoking. I make this my first choice every year because I don’t smoke and therefore am sure to actually keep this one. Its my perennial confidence builder, the perfect kick start on my personal resolution road. 2....

Money

In some countries, when the choices on the ballot aren’t good ones, people can pull the NOTA (None Of The Above) lever. Maybe Americans should have the same option… A NOTA Limerick I once was a politics doter, Today, though, this realm seems remoter; The two parties’ fare? Who cares ’bout that pair? In 2012 I’ll vote NOTA. More at: “This God-Awful Political Season (In Verse)”

The areas of our lives touched by advertising have been growing like kudzu over the years, and have long passed the line of good sense much less good taste. Every time one leaves the house these days (or stays home for that matter) he or she seems to be assaulted by yet another way, another space, in which advertisers are peddling their wares. Promotional videos on supermarket checkout lines and placards on shopping carts. On passing buses, On school vending machines. On cereal boxes. On tiles worked...

In a recent interview, Mitt Romney predicted President Obama (and presumably his surrogates) would run “a campaign on envy and class warfare.” This envy would presumably be based on Romney’s financial success doing leveraged buyout takeover deals. Well sure. Who wouldn’t want to be able to borrow a heap of money using a target company’s own assets to gain control of that company, then whittle down its employee rolls and do whatever else was necessary in order to get...

Democratic Party pols used to understand the obvious. If there were an issue that most people, most voters, held dear, and if it fell within the party’s own traditional policy parameters, these pols used to beat it to death and win elections with it. That was the way it was in the old days. Now these pols have been Obama-ed. They think deeply. They wallow in the depths of the counter-intuitive. They see the many facets of complex issues and seek always for a solution that accommodates the thinking...

Before doing his present number with a Payroll Tax extension, Eric Cantor, the Tea Party’s man in Congress, almost brought about a government default in support of the same underlying issue: Taxes are off the table. Period. We can thus easily visualize him doing this karaoke in the style of Frank Sinatra… They’ll Do It My Way And now, though crises loom, I hold one steadfast notion; It’s that, tax hikes mean doom, To this I swear, my full devotion; For me, negotiate, A lesser...

In other western countries, austerity measures include taxing the rich along with taking benefits for others. In this country, the ruling powers have decided that… The Rich Have Suffered Long Enough The rich have suffered long enough, They’ve known great taxing sorrows; It’s time class warfare laws to doff, They’ve earned their bright tomorrows. Unlike the poor or middle class, Top earners’ rates are highest; The fairer way is make rates flat, ‘Cause now they’re clearly...

In 1896 William Jennings Bryan, a liberal populist, won the Democratic nomination for president. He did it largely on the basis of the rousing speech he made at the party’s nominating convention — his famous “Cross Of Gold” speech. The specific economic issue that speech addressed, the question of whether bimetalism, using silver as well as gold as the backing for our currency, may seem utterly irrelevant to present day economics. Look a little deeper, though, and an eerie similarity...

For a long time I’ve had a personal dream. That poetry becomes a regular feature of political commentary and analysis in major media. Not just in a few high-profile publications, not just when a new poet laureate is named or a famous poet reads her verse at a presidential inaugural. But on a regular basis on radio, TV, print publications, and well-trafficked media of all kinds. I’ve come to a number of conclusions about how to succeed in making this happen. First, that it not be a one-person...

If you’re old enough to remember the Shirelles, a great pop singing group that started recording in the late 1950s, you’ll also probably remember one of their biggest hits — “Will you still love me tomorrow.” Whenever I hear President Obama speak these days, I’m reminded of the lyrical sentiment of that song. In a recent speech, Mr. Obama said that economic inequality is “the defining issue of our time.” That’s something that has been noted for a...

Republicans used to be thought of as the pro-business party. These days, however, any benefits that might accrue to businesses from federal legislation seem to take a back seat for Republicans to saving this country’s very rich from paying a bit more in taxes. Consider the Payroll Tax debate now going on in congress. The newest proposal from Democrats aimed at extending lower payroll taxes, would only keep them at a lower rate for America’s 160 million workers. The previous Democratic...