09/13/2021
Today

Meritocracy Conceals Elite Disdain For Ordinary

Charles Murray, Claremont Review

Meritocracy conceals elite disdain for the lives of ordinary Americans.

The End of Jobless Benefit Boost Shows How Bad Work Is

Michael Hiltzik, LAT

A pandemic-related boost in unemployment benefits ended this week, leaving many workers stranded.

After 9/11, Amazon, Facebook, & Google Abused Privacy

Tiffany Li, MSNBC.com

The Patriot Act didn't completely strip away our privacy, but we've been surrendering it all the same.

China Tries to Enter Into Global Semiconductor Ranks

Rich Karlgaard, Forbes

Mainland China is behind other countries when it comes to making advanced microprocessors. Beijing has to overcome that hurdle if it wants to move toward core technological independence by 2025.

Dem Agenda Would Send Capital Gains Rates to the Moon

Andrew Wilford, RCM

At a time when the economy is still recovering from a COVID-induced recession, one would think that the last thing policymakers would want to do is discourage investment. Yet that's precisely what congressional Democrats might end up doing with a raft of proposed tax hikes on capital gains. High-profile Democrats such as President Biden and Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Ron Wyden have supported a laundry list of tax hikes on investment income, including taxing capital gains and carried interest as ordinary income, ending the step-up in basis, and establishing mark-to-market...

Reform a System That Protected Sackler Family

Ryan Hampton, New York Times

The Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case settlement protected the wealthy and ignored those who suffered.

Today's Question: Are Stocks Too Pricey?

Eric Nelson, Servo Wealth Management

This question, or some form of it, is the most common one I'm getting today. What are my thoughts? Keep reading to find out...

Enough With Gross Domestic Product. Measure Progress

John Talberth, The Hill

The truth is, gross domestic product (GDP) is a metric that has little to do with the economic wellbeing of American households.

We're Closer to the End of Pandemic Than Media Say

Joel Zinberg, City Journal

New CDC findings show that we're closer than ever to the end of the pandemic.

Biden's Vaccine Mandate Has Nothing to Do With Fighting C-19

Editorial, I & I

This is about claiming credit where credit isn't due.

Inequality In the U.S.: Mr. Biden, Meet Alexis de Tocqueville

Randolph May, RCM

On January 20, 2021, his first day in office, President Joe Biden issued an "Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Undeserved Communities Through the Federal Government." The first sentence proclaims: "Equal opportunity is the bedrock of American democracy." Nevertheless, despite the order's nod towards promoting "equal opportunity" rather than "equal outcomes," there's still cause for concern. In no uncertain fashion, the executive order commits the Biden administration to "an ambitious whole-of-government equity agenda. In other words, a "comprehensive" and "systematic"...

Economy Shook After 9/11, But Didn't Crumble

Charles Gasparino, New York Post

Charles Gasparino recalls how his father, ex-Marine William Gasparino helped build the Twin Towers. On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, he commemorates those who worked diligently to rebuild the stock…

Why Rents Are Rising Rapidly & What Comes Next

Bill McBride, Calculated Risk

What is happening? Why? And what will happen.

'Beige Book' Signals Meaningful Deceleration

Richard Moody, Regions Bank

COVID's Impact on Stock Market's Phases

Liz Ann Sonders, Charles Schwab

Since COVID's wrath began, the stock market has gone through three major phases of leadership, with a fourth possibly underway driven in part by seasonals.

Debt Race 2020: Inflation the Likely Winner

Jerry Bowyer, Vident Financial

Despite predictions last year and earlier this year that inflation would be transitory, it has not transited away, but rather transitioned upwards.

U.S.-China Trade Growth Slows Further

Ironman, Political Calculations

The growth of trade between the U.S. and China flashed warning signs in July 2021.

Dollar Outlook: Can Rally Continue?

Kathy Jones & Christina Shaffer, Charles Schwab

We believe it can, at least in the short term.

Rethinking Safety Net to Encourage Dynamism

Allison Schrager, Manhattan Institute

Many Americans feel as though they can't get ahead: the costs of housing, health care, and education keep rising, while their income has not grown much. Income stagnation has become one of the most pressing policy issues. Regarding the degree to which income has stagnated, we often hear the...

How Counterfeit Capitalism Leads To Inflation, Shortages

Matt Stoller, BIG

From railroads to plastic bags to semiconductors to ice cream, Wall Street and monopolists are creating shortages and exploiting them.

How Hollywood Sold Out to China

Shirley Li, The Atlantic

A culture of acquiescing to Beijing's censors is now the norm, and there's little sign of it changing.

Economics Turned Upside Down In The US

Dani Rodrik, Project Syndicate

In one policy area after another – from trade to taxation to labor markets – the decades-old consensus in the United States has been replaced with something very different. But policymakers elsewhere would be wise to consider their own countries' circumstances carefully before following America's lead.

The U.S. Needs Only One 401(k) Plan

John Rekenthaler, Morningstar

The marketplace has delivered its verdict.

Trillion Dollar Bills On The Sidewalk?

Veronique de Rugy, Reason

Growing evidence confirms that barriers to immigration make us all worse off.

Why $46 Billion Couldn't Prevent an Eviction Crisis

Glenn Thrush, NY Times

As national eviction protections lapse, much of the rental assistance sits unspent. Aid was slowed by red tape, resistance from landlords and the difficulty of navigating an informal market. Does a lease on a napkin qualify?

Last Glimpses of California's Vanishing Hippie Utopias

David Jacob Kramer, GQ

Half a century ago, a legion of idealists dropped out of society and went back to the land. Here's a glimpse of their otherworldly residences—and the tail end of a grand social experiment.

Grass Is Good. Lawns Are Terrible.

Benji Jones, Vox

Grasslands are anything but wastelands.

Why The Pandemic Baby Boom Didn't Boom

Tanya Lewis, Scientific American

Birth rates in many high-income countries declined in the months following the first wave, possibly because of economic uncertainty

Humans Have Been Drinking Beer For A Long Time

Kiona Smith, Ars Technica

The world's oldest painted pottery may have been for drinking beer at a funeral.

America's First Depression: Panic Of 1819

Jamie Catherwood, Investor Amnesia

The panic of 1819 produced America's first depression.

The Beginning Of A New Inflation Regime?

David Hay, Evergreen Gavekal

Bond investors should be very afraid of current fiscal and monetary policies.

America's Medici Moment?

Robert E. Wright, AIER

And thus corporations are led, by an invisible hand, to promote an end which was no part of their intention, the simultaneous enrichment of themselves and empowerment of party partisans.

Yes, Dow 36,000 Was Very Wrong

Cullen Roche, Pragmatic Capitalism

Ken Rogoff took the WSJ yesterday to explain why the infamous Dow 36,000 prediction wasn't wrong. Sorry Ken, I'm not buying it.
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