Today the front page of the New York Times features an obituary for the Congressional Deficit Committee. Should anyone be surprised at the collapse of a committe whose goal was to reach a political compromise that would reduce the National Debt by several trillion dollars, when half the membership represented a political party that has made a refusal to compromise its modus operandi?

Democrats insist that they were closing in on the framework of an agreement, but that Republicans backed away from their willingness to accept significant revenue increases in exchange for cuts in the growth of entitlement programs. They said Mr. Boehner sealed the fate of the panel on Thursday by offering a package that had a mere $3 billion in new revenue, far less than an earlier Republican plan.

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I really hate to be the bearer of bad, shitty, terrible, apocalyptic news, but in case you haven’t heard yet, the European single currency seems to be on the verge of collapse (for reals this time). The New York Times today reports that interest on Italian government bonds has broken the 7% barrier, making it ever more costly for the Italian government to finance its debt. It’s sign that investors are growing ever more skeptical that Italy is immune from the possibility of default.

As painful as a Greek default would be, the world economy faces a much graver threat if investors abandon Italian debt and the cost of borrowing for the Italian government becomes prohibitive. Italy is the world’s fourth largest borrower after the United States, Japan and Germany. Indeed, it owes more than the other troubled countries on the periphery of Europe — Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain — put together.

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If you’ve been toying with the idea of setting up your own Right-Wing “think tank” to rake in a few Koch dollars in these tough economic times, pay attention, because this is how it’s done:

…by increasing the costs to banks of doing business in distressed communities, the CRA makes banks likely to deny credit to marginal borrowers that would qualify for credit if costs were not so high.

Cato Instutite, 2003 Handbook for Congress

Some supporters claim that stricter Clinton administration CRA enforcement has reduced or ended discrimination. They note that between 1993 and 1997, mortgages made to all borrowers increased by 30 percent, while mortgages made to minority borrowers increased by 63 percent. But Chicago Fed economists Douglas D. Evanoff and Lewis M. Segal found that the increased rates of loans to poorer neighborhoods were about equal before and after 1992. Further, Federal Reserve Board economist Robert Avery found that in 1993 and 1997, institutions both not subject to and subject to CRA made about the same percentage of mortgages to lower-income borrowers and neighborhoods as they did to all borrowers.

Is it Time to Repeal the Community Reinvestment Act?” 1999 Cato Institute publication.

Now, flash forward exactly one housing market bubble collapse and a catastrophic economic implosion… Read more »

Last week, in an attempt to wrest a headline or two from Herman Cain, Rick Perry finally presented voters with an economic plan, the centerpiece of which is a 20% flat tax proposal. This sort of thing isn’t that unusual for a Republican candidate, one will recall that the flat tax was also the centerpiece of Steve Forbes’ short lived 1996 primary campaign. What’s different about Perry’s proposal, however, is a curious twist he’s added. In an apparent attempt to assuage fears that a flat tax would constitute a tax increase on poorer Americans, Perry has decided that his flax tax should be optional. If you like it, you pay 20% of your income to the Federal Government and you’re done (well… except for your state taxes), but if you remain unconvinced, you can stick with the current system.

This twist apears to have received little scrutiny among the commentariat. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Perry has largely faded from the scene, his numbers dropping precipitously after a series of dissappointing debate performances. Perhaps it is because the twist appears too gimmicky to merit serous consideration. Still it is suprising how little attention has been paid to the “optionality” feature since it implies a significant departure from the standard arguments that have, till now, been employed to promote the flat tax. Students of the various and sundry GOP tax proposals that have been floated over the last few decades are no doubt aware that one of the justifications that Republicans frequently provide for their flat tax proposals is the claim that under current law, the super rich are able to exploit loopholes allowing them to shelter much of their income from taxation. The flat tax, proponets have often argued, would actually increase taxes on those wealthy Americans who rely on an army of tax lawyers to help them escape taxation (the flat tax, by this argument, would actually be “fairer” and more progressive than the current system).

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A few stories you may or may not have missed this week (perfect for watercooler conversation breaks, or ending that moment of awkward silence on your next blind date):
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Paul Krugman points his readers to this column by Suze Orman, in which the personal finance guru endorses the Occupy Wall Street protesters, and rails against the unfairness of the events that have transpired over the past few years, with major banks and other financial institutions seeing massive bailouts while ordinary Americans have been left out to dry.

One point Orman makes is to note the unfairness of a system in which our youth are graduating from college loaded up with student loan debt, and few if any job prospects to help them repay it. Furthermore, recent legislation makes this debt nearly impossible to discharge in bankruptcy court. It’s no wonder the kids have taken to the streets.

By manner of comment, I would like to repeat something I have said in other venues: when future historians look back at the wreckage that is becoming of the American economy, they will note with sadness our skewed priorities. And they will wonder how it is we ever got to a point where a propective homeowner considerng the purchase of his next McMansion can rest secure in the knowledge that should things go wrong, he can simply turn in his key and walk away from the mortgage suffering no legal ramifications. Whereas, by contrast, a young person looking over a stack of college prospectuses and trying to decide where she wants to pursue higher education faces the very real risk that the massive loans she takes out to pay for college will haunt her for the rest of her life.

One of the few genuine pleasures of the GOP nomination process has been playing witness to the Rick Perry implosion. It is strikingly reminiscent of the events that led to the failed candidacy of Fred Thompson in 2008. With his genial grandad persona and “plain spoken horse sense” Thompson was annointed a sort of Republican child Lama, the reincarnation of Ronald Reagan who would carry the presidency by channeling the Gipper, raised aloft into the White House by a throng of GOP faithful. Yet when he dropped into the race, instead of walking on air, Thompson fell to earth with a dull thud. Apparently the guy was just too lazy to get up and walk, and the rest of the field just ambled past him. Read more »