“Economist” on The Daily Caller

Is the burka making Muslim women fat? All women know the frustration of waking up post-pizza party feeling a bit plump and hesitant to put on that cute tiny skirt – at which point hiding behind vast quantities of fabric may seem enticing. But is it healthy? (more)

As America continues to contemplate its trade mess, the question naturally arises how other developed nations manage to trade with the world without deficits and without turning high-wage industries into low-wage industries to compete. Although some other developed nations, like Britain and Spain, have trade situations almost as bad as ours in recent years, some have been quite the opposite. (more)

June 28 (Bloomberg) — Incomes grew faster than spending in May, making it possible for American households to simultaneously increase savings and support the economic recovery. (more)

White House Budget Director Peter Orszag announced Tuesday he’ll step down next month, becoming the first high-profile member of President Obama’s team to leave the administration. (more)

“America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” Alexis de Tocqueville (more)

Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman says that Germany has begun imposing austerity measures far too soon and that it could endanger fragile economic growth. His comments are just the latest in a trans-Atlantic dispute about fiscal policy. (more)

As the president attempts to curb the nation’s spewing anger over the Gulf oil spill in Tuesday’s national address, leaders and experts in Louisiana say the administration is continuing to strike out. (more)

Greece suffers from unsustainable public-sector debt, low productivity, and an overall uncompetitive economy. In 2009, the government’s fiscal deficit was 13.6 percent of Greece’s gross domestic product (GDP) and its outstanding debt stood at 115 percent of its GDP. Lenders were losing confidence in Greece’s ability to repay them. Before the loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the EU announced on May 2, they were demanding an almost 10 percentage points premium over lending rates to Germany, which worsened Greece’s deficit. Even with the large corrective measures Greece has agreed to undertake, its debt is projected to increase to 149 percent of GDP in 2012 before beginning to shrink in 2014. (more)

One day Team Obama announces a plan for enhanced rescission authority to impound wasteful spending, and the next day the House surfaces a plan for $200 billion in “stimulus” spending on transfer payments for welfare, even more unemployment compensation, still more Medicaid, and a bunch of special-interest subsidies. (more)

The United States is broke and in debt. The only people who refuse to understand that reality, and who refuse to care, are the big spenders in congress and the White House. Disaster approaches, and what informed citizens want to know is exactly when the hammer will fall on our currency and economy. Now Moody’s Investor Service has given us a clue. First, some background. (more)

There is an “emerging consensus” that we are headed for a value-added tax (VAT) in the United States. But the more optimistic among the experts and pundits believe it won’t come until after the 2012 election and then only if President Obama is reelected. There is no doubt that something will have to be done about the financial crisis and the federal debt—even if ObamaCare is repealed—and many believe the “hidden” VAT is the politically viable solution. Many openly say that the VAT, with its costs hidden in the price of commercial products, is the only way to get the money to pay for ObamaCare. (more)

The word “bank” is derived from the French banc, meaning bench, hearkening back to early medieval times when moneychangers and gem traders conducted their business face-to-face with their customers on a long bench. There was direct personal contact; business was based on mutual trust (or lack thereof). With all the current discussion about financial reform “so that Wall Street answers to Main Street,” it is also appropriate to examine banking on Main Street with small businesses in the neighborhood. (more)

The costs of ObamaCare were to be paid by reductions to Medicare ($500 billion) and taxes on those with high incomes and investments ($500 billion). However, the actuarial and economic analyses don’t take into account the ultimate 100 percent tax on one’s income—the loss of your job. (more)

President Obama has appointed three new doves to the Federal Reserve Board, thereby taking command of the nation’s central bank. But there’s a split developing inside the Federal Reserve System: The Reserve Bank presidents, appointed by their own district boards of directors, are increasingly likely to wage a battle royale against the central-bank headquarters in Washington and its free-money, ultra-easy policies. (more)

America’s financial mess and our festering trade crisis were both caused by bad policies that mainstream economics told us were OK. This has made the public cynical about economists, but has produced few specific suggestions on how to actually fix the discipline. So—what should we do to restore its ability to give sound advice? (more)

Now the Real Work Begins - Two years after the economic meltdown and two weeks into a legislative stalemate, Republicans and Democrats yesterday agreed to proceed with debate on the Senate’s financial reform bill. Bloomberg reports that Republicans agreed to go forward after assurances that Democrats would remove from the bill a $50 billion industry-supported fund that would be used to wind down failing firms. (more)

The recent April 15 tax-filing deadline brings forth the yearly ominous reminder that there is nothing certain except “death and taxes.” Perhaps the adage should be more optimistically couched as “life and taxes.” (more)

Earth Day is a great day for politicians to push their clean energy agenda and President Obama made this clear when he reiterated in Earth Day video message that we need to transition to a clean energy economy. Politicians say that we should use the earth’s renewable resources, most notably the wind and the sun, to power our country. Some Members of Congress are even pushing for a federal mandate that requires a predetermined percentage of our nation’s electricity from certain energy sources. The champion of ideas, as always, is Al Gore, who believes we can supply all our energy with renewable energy. But the reality is if we pursued Al Gore’s renewable energy dream, it would be American electricity consumers’ worst nightmare. (more)

There is a myth in wide circulation that the superiority of free trade is simply a settled question on which all serious economists agree. The flip side of this myth, of course, is that anyone who criticizes free trade must either be ignorant of economics, or the spokesman of some special interest that hopes to benefit from trade restrictions. Such critics are not only wrong, the story continues with admittedly impeccable logic, but also profoundly worthy of public contempt, as they are necessarily either dumb or corrupt. (more)

The debate over free trade is riddled with myth after myth. One that keeps resurfacing again and again, no matter how many times it is discredited, is the idea that protectionism caused the Great Depression. One occasionally even hears that the same protectionism—specifically the Smoot-Hawley tariff of 1930—was responsible in significant part for World War II! This is nonsense dreamed up for propaganda purposes by free traders, and can easily be debunked. (more)