Thursday, March 14, 2013

Economics Daily Digest: Same plan, different day

Economics Daily Digest by the Roosevelt Institute banner

By Tim Price, originally published on Next New Deal

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Above the law (WaPo)

Katrina vanden Heuvel argues that the combo of drone warfare and "too big to fail" contradicts the idea of the U.S. as a nation of laws, creating a system in which ordinary citizens may be blown up by remote control but criminal bankers are untouchable.

Ryan the Redistributionist (Robert Reich)

Reich notes that while the GOP claims Paul Ryan's budget aims to free the middle class from the financial burden President Obama has imposed on them, that's just to distract them while Ryan reaches into their pockets and collects their tributes to the rich.

What Paul Ryan's Budget Means for Women (The Nation)

NND Editor Bryce Covert writes that the latest version of the Ryan budget doesn't let up on the policies voters in general and women in particular rejected in the last election, and his cuts to the safety net and domestic spending show the rejection is mutual.

We Need a Shadow CBO (Harper's)

Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow Jeff Madrick highlights a study that shows our long-term debt problem isn't as bad as the CBO's alarmist projections, and the need for an alternative source for predictions about the real world rather than the "neutral" one.

The Millennial Generation Can Lead Us Out of Gridlock (Time)

Eric Liu argues that while the rising Millennial generation has big goals and expectations for what an active government can achieve, its instinct is to go around or over the obstacles it faces rather than hurling itself face-first into them like current policymakers.

Budget war showcases sharp contrast in values and priorities (WaPo)

Greg Sargent notes that Senate Democrats, led by Patty Murray, will unveil their plan to replace the sequester with $100 billion in new stimulus spending today, which sounds like a pie in the face compared to the proposals of Very Serious Man Paul Ryan.

Blessings of Low Taxes Remain Unproved (NYT)

Eduardo Porter writes that despite the GOP's long-held belief that "lower thy tax rates" is the 11th commandment, most recently enshrined in the Ryan budget, three decades of experimentation have yet to produce the economic miracles they prophesied.

Research ties economic inequality to gap in life expectancy (WaPo)

Michael Fletcher compares life expectancy in two neighboring but economically disparate counties in Florida to show that when policymakers say we need to account for the fact that Americans are living longer than ever, there's a silent "rich" in there.

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

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