Economics Daily Digest: Lean too far and you're bound to fall

By Tim Price, originally published on Next New Deal

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Lean In, Trickle Down: The False Promise of Sheryl Sandberg's Theory of Change (Forbes)

NND Editor Bryce Covert challenges the theory that simply having more women at the top will make things better for all women. Case in point: Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, who just decreed that a woman's place is not in the home, but in the cubicle. Always.

Why Obama Must Meet the Republican Lies Directly (Robert Reich)

Reich argues that it won't do President Obama any good to pin the blame for the sequester on Republicans without debunking their underlying claims that austerity is beneficial and growth starts at the top. The Up-is-Down caucus needs a lesson on gravity.

House Republicans are over the moon about sequestration (WaPo)

Dana Milbank notes that with just days left before the sequester kicks in, the House GOP is devoting its time to serious matters like renaming NASA facilities. They may one day address the cuts as long as there are no sports teams they have to congratulate.

Fix the Debt's Fuzzy Math (The Nation)

Dean Baker writes that the surest way to be deemed "unserious" in the deficit debate is to acknowledge the economic crisis that actually caused most of the deficit. And if you bring up aggregate demand, you might as well don greasepaint and a big red nose.

Split Vote in Italy Sends One Clear Message: No to Austerity (NYT)

Rachel Donadio reports that the Italian elections failed to produce a clear governing coalition, raising renewed fears of a euro crisis. If only the wise men of the EU could somehow make voters understand that what's worst for them is what's best for everyone.

Americans Still Don't Want to Cut Any Actual Government Programs (WaPo)

Brad Plumer highlights a chart from a Pew survey that shows most Americans favor cutting spending unless it affects any government programs they like, which are all of them. But they're willing to haggle over the <1 percent of the budget that goes to foreign aid.

Treasury Pick Tries to Cast His History as Right for the Job (NYT)

Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Annie Lowrey write that Treasury nominee Jack Lew is walking a tightrope in his confirmation hearings, stressing that he understands high finance but isn't beholden to it. Meanwhile, Chuck Hagel doesn't even want to hear it.

Happy Birthday, Dear Income Tax (Prospect)

Sam Pizzigati and Sarah Anderson note that the Sixteenth Amendment just turned 100 years old, which makes it one of those newfangled ideas that the GOP isn't quite sold on. But it's proven it can do great things if progressives are willing to fight for it.

Tim Price is Deputy Editor of Next New Deal. Follow him on Twitter @txprice.