The official poverty rate in the US was 14.8% in 2015, meaning that 14.8% of all individuals were in households below the official poverty line. The rate for children under 18 was 19.7%, so basically 1 of every 5 children lives below the official poverty line in the richest and most powerful country in Read More…
Category: economics
Conservatism ≠ small government
If you haven’t been following my recent posts, I am in the midst of advocating for a third or alternative party that, in very general terms, would be socially conservative while combating economic inequality and social injustice with a more active role of the government in the economy. In my last post, I said that for this party Read More…
Bringing the Jobs Back
As promised, here are a few thoughts on industrial policy, parochialism, Apple, and what they have to do with nationalism. As America’s economy continues to struggle, our country is rightly obsessed with jobs and employment. While some people believe that our national debt and lack of fiscal austerity are our greatest economic threats (I have Read More…
The Development Imperative
I have an entire shelf of books dedicated to the economic development that ISN’T happening around the world. They have titles like: The Elusive Quest for Growth, The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good, The End of Poverty, The Mystery Read More…
The Path to Democracy
As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, the end of the Cold War left many people looking for new ways to understand international affairs. Starting in the early 1990’s, many people began to feel that democracy had won the final chapter in world affairs and it was just a matter of when and how Read More…
Dissecting the Debt Debacle
In the last few weeks, there has been plenty of debate over the debt deal and America’s economic troubles. Some have blamed everything on government spending, some have called the Tea Party and GOP blackmailers, some have been disappointed in President Obama, and some are still blaming everything on George Bush – the only Read More…
CSquared-onomics Part 2
Here’s my attempt at Applied International Economics in a few pages. Please make sure you read Part one (my last post) first or this may not make sense to you. Also, please check out the recently added About the Author and About the Blog pages at the links on the right. Lesson #1: The Read More…
CSquared-onomics Part 1
Economics is one the most powerful tools we have for understanding the world around us and creating good policy, despite its many shortcomings. Unfortunately few people have the opportunity to learn its fundamentals. I’d like to share what I believe are the basic lessons of economics that every concerned citizen should know. I’ll talk Read More…