john maddente | midwestern clarity

T here's a piece in today's Wall Street Journal called " The Fed's Needless Flirtation With Danger " in which Martin Feldstein writes that in order to stimulate demand, " Well-designed tax rules are a safe and effective alternative to quantitative easing ".   Dr. Feldstein argues that we'd have been better served by tax policies that induce businesses to make new investments and help consumers consume, instead of unleashing so much QE, but some of his contemporaries would challenge that assertion.      Major economists in the media often disagree in practice and do so with the type of certainty reserved for hard science and their views are frequently colored by their  political leanings.      I once saw an Economist on Squawk Box who insisted that professional economists collectively agree on nearly all major policy prescriptions .  I Nassim Taleb, Wikipedia wish I could recall his name.  His remarks still strike me as wi...

H ave you read about the recent boost in U.S. consumer spending ?  Of course you have and you know it is attributed -- at least in part -- to a steep drop in energy prices, particularly a drop in gasoline prices .    Office.com clip art This development is described by some in the financial press as a tax cut because the benefit accrues to the consumer in much the same way a tax cut does.  That is, by paying less at the pump, w e automatically keep more of what we earn.  I wonder how Keynesians who routinely advocate for enormous government spending to stimulate demand are reacting.  P utting money directly in the hands of taxpayers can also spur consumption .  

I 've taken business trips to New York City since the Eighties and for me much remains unchanged -- both good and not-so-good.  Times Square street performer John Maddente photo Taxi cabs now co-exist with new competitors like Uber and Lyft giving riders new options, but t he  ride through  decrepit parts of Queens enroute to LaGuardia airport, is still dreary.   The Times Square area remains a crowded kaleidoscope of sounds, sights and smells that probably began to lose its charm in the Seventies.  Thousands of pedestrians mill around a neon backdrop of seedy shops and streets that cry for updates, or at least a protracted power wash.  On the other hand, I'm still captivated by the view looking southward down Park Avenue that terminates at the Met Life Building and Grand Central Terminal, or looking northward down Park Avenue from the other side of these buildings.  Central Park remains a rolling, twisting, verd...

A s a teen, I once scraped together enough money to buy a hamburger at a diner, then sat down at a table and waited and waited.  I watched waitresses serving customers around me and after a long period, I caught the attention of one waitress.  I asked her if someone could take my order.  She replied that another waitress had seen me steal a tip and that's why nobody would wait on me.  The charge was bogus.  I had taken nothing.  I protested the charge and left the diner with emotions that affected me decades later and even as I write these words.  I never learned the identity of my accuser. The point of the story is that if one is going to charge another of being a thief, one must be able to back up the accusation, or there ought to be consequences for the accuser .   Slanderous or libelous commentary is allowed in America's political environment because it's accepted as...