OWS

The Rich Get Richer … Connecting the Economic, Political & Social Dots

September 29, 2015 Economics

Just a reminder. I first published this in 2006 under a my old SignalHealth label and again here in 2011. It seems to get more current every day. Certainly, there are a lot of tax “plans” being floated that confirm one of the self-reinforcing loops depicted (influencing changes in public policy to the advantage of […]

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Universal Coverage, “Obamacare,” and the Supreme Court

March 25, 2012 Federal Government

Be careful what you wish for. Coming up this week will be extensive, multi-day arguments before the US Supreme Court on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), labeled derisively by the right as “Obamacare” and perhaps increasing embraced by the Left as “Obamacare.” As Vice President Biden said at the signing ceremony, “this […]

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Bits & Pieces

March 16, 2012 Economics

Today’s Grab Bag More “Winner Take All” Economics Sports star economics comes to the law profession. Dewey & LeBoeuf, the result of a 2007 merger of Dewey Ballantine and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae. Star economics was the subject of Robert Frank’s 1995 book, the Winner Take All Society. Frank’s argument was that partly because […]

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We Don’t Hate the Rich

December 20, 2011 Economics

Joshua M. Brown, a financial advisor, responding to JPMorgan Chase & Co. chief executive officer, Jaime Dimon’s lament that Americans hate the rich: I am writing to profess my utter disbelief at how little you seem to understand the current mood of the nation. In a story at Bloomberg today, you and a handful of […]

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Private Equity Gets a Lower Tax Rate. Why?

December 19, 2011 Business

Reading a New York Times Story on Mitt Romney’s continued receipt of income from Bain Capital, a company he left in early 1999, I was reminded of the special tax deal that hedge fund and private equity operators get. Tax treatment of hedge fund and private equity compensation has been another point of political contention. […]

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The Rich Get Richer … Connecting the Economic, Political & Social Dots

November 8, 2011 Economics

Inequality is both effect and cause. Inequality of income and resources is indeed a significant, even profound social, political and economic problem. But this did not just happen suddenly and, by itself, it’s not enough to explain the current unrest. That’s more because a large proportion of the public has come to the conclusion (rightly, […]

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Somewhere Between Scylla and Charybdis

October 12, 2011 Budget

Recently I had lunch and caught up with an old friend and colleague, one who’s been central to the wars over health coverage. We’re equally distressed about, not only the state of the economy, but the state of political discourse and decision making. We’ve been concerned for quite some time, but this past summer’s debt […]

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