“You do not curse away the darkness of the night; you illuminate your area by holding up a light.” -Terry Sanford
All in Economic Policy
By Blake Holt, staff editor As President Obama and the Republicans offer competing visions for balancing the federal budget, it is important to be clear about the scope of the problems we face and the options available to address those problems moving forward. However, the current debate seems to be ignoring the steps already taken to reduce the deficit.
By Anna Kawar, staff editor So, the government averted a shutdown. Again. To be honest, I’m not even sure what to attribute this “success” to. Everything has become so jumbled that it’s hard to follow who the “heroes” are—especially with the budget debate turning into outright moral warfare. I read this Russian joke used in reference to what has been happening, and I think it’s a perfect way to describe recent events: "We were at the edge of the cliff. Now we've taken a giant step forward."
Standard & Poor’s didn’t downgrade America’s AAA credit today. What they did is subtler: They attached a “negative outlook” to our AAA credit. That means they upgraded the chance of a future downgrade. So if you ask the S&P’s Magic ...
By Tia Brueggeman, staff editor With all the hype around green vehicles we should ask ourselves: is owning an alternative car a pragmatic solution to environmental problems or is it just a status symbol? Monetary incentives and social consciousness tell us we should reconsider our traditional gas- guzzling car, but what are the alternatives?
By Matt Vigeant, staff editor Plato’s Anthropological Principle says that society is simply man at large. If this is true, our spend-aholic government is a person who makes $50,000 a year but foolishly decides to take a subprime mortgage on a million dollar house. But, unlike the subprime man who cannot pass his debt on to his children, the government can – and seems poised to again – pass its debt on to the next generation.