Noted for January 15, 2013
- Eschaton: F The Deficit: "The additional maddening thing is that if you fix the jobs problem you largely fix the deficit problem. The reverse is not true. If you "fix" the deficit you kill the jobs."
If becoming the paid employee of Scientology isn't rock bottom for the Atlantic, I don't know what is. theatlantic.com/sponsored/scie…
— Erik Loomis (@ErikLoomis) January 15, 2013
Aaron Swartz's Lawyer: Prosecutor Stephen Heymann Wanted 'Juicy' Case For Publicity
Eric Loomis: Longing for the Days of Megan McArdle: "You thought McArdle was as low as The Atlantic could go? Oh no. Not even close. How about allowing Scientology to write a “Sponsor Content” that looks just like a news article but is in fact a self-written story about the awesomeness of Scientology leader David Miscavige? Wow. If this isn’t rock bottom, I don’t know what is. Also, make sure you read the comment section. I’m sure it’ll soon be inundated with people ripping the magazine. But right now, it’s clearly a coordinated campaign by Scientology to flood the comment section with laudatory comments. It’s all very special."
Gavyn Davies: How much spare capacity does the world have left?
Charles Evans: Monetary Policy at the Zero Lower Bound
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon: The Philosophy of Poverty
Derek Thompson: The 47%: Who They Are, Where They Live, How They Vote, and Why They Matter
Colin Powell: Republicans Using 'Racial-Era Slave Terms' to Attack Obama | Video Cafe
David Beckworth: Macro and Other Market Musings: Resolving the Safe Asset Shortage Problem: "One of the biggest challenges facing the global economy is the shortage of safe assets, those assets that are highly liquid and expected to maintain their value. This shortage matters because safe assets facilitate exchange…. This precipitous decline in institutional money assets declined occurred, of course, just as the demand for them were increasing because of the panic…. The shortage of safe assets is a big deal because it means there is an excess demand for both institutional and retail money assets…. So what can be done about this problem? Matthew C. Klein of The Economist believes the solution is for the government to create more safe assets…. I take a different view: a robust recovery can only occur if there is an increased confidence in the safety of private debt instruments (i.e. a drop in the risk premium) and, as a result, an increase in demand for them. A full recovery, therefore, requires a restoration of the market for privately-produced safe assets."