A few weeks ago, during the evidentiary dustup between Piketty and the FT, I quasi-favorably quoted a Matt Yglesias line re empirical evidence being overrated. A number of readers were understandably unhappy with that assertion, arguing that they come here to OTE for fact-based analysis based on empirical evidence (with, admittedly, a fair bit a heated, if not overheated, commentary). If facts all of the sudden don’t matter anymore, why not just call it a day and join the Tea Party?
So let me add a bit more nuance. The statement is about the quality and durability of evidence, which is not only varied, but, at least in the economic policy world, increasingly problematic. A number of developments have significantly lowered the signal-to-noise ratio. Continue reading Jared Bernstein: Evidence: Is It Really Overrated? | More on Evidence→
You often find people talking about our economic difficulties as if they were complicated and mysterious, with no obvious solution. As the economist Dean Baker recently pointed out, nothing could be further from the truth. The basic story of what went wrong is, in fact, almost absurdly simple: We had an immense housing bubble, and, when the bubble burst, it left a huge hole in spending. Everything else is footnotes. Continue reading Paul Krugman: Build We Won’t |NYTimes→
For the past half-century or more, homeownership has formed the cornerstone of the American Dream. But ever since the economic crisis, America has been in the throes of a long-running Great Reset as it shifts gradually from homeownership toward renting. The number of “renter households” increased by more than half a million in 2013 according to a recent analysis on the state of the housing market from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.
A recent post over at the economics blog Sober Look suggests that the shift is occurring faster than even I expected. This huge growth in the renting population means that, in the coming years, America’s housing crisis will have less to do with foreclosures and underwater homes and more to do with rental housing, as the supply of these units is falling far behind growing demand. Continue reading America’s Looming Rental Crisis – CityLab→
“I’ve been asking CEOs to give more long-term unemployed workers a fair shot at that new job and new chance to support their families,” President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union address. “This week, many will come to the White House to make that commitment real.”
Rachel Maddow reminds us, in this video clip dated July 2nd, 2014, of Rand Paul’s shifting views on civil rights. In four short years, Mr. Paul has gone from “I wouldn’t have voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964” to a sudden and enthusiastic embrace of it.
This week, in the Hobby Lobby case, the Supreme Court ruled that a religious employer could not be required to provide employees with certain types of contraception. That decision is beginning to reverberate: A group of faith leaders is urging the Obama administration to include a religious exemption in a forthcoming LGBT anti-discrimination action. Continue reading Molly Ball: #HobbyLobby Is Already Creating New Religious Demands on #Obama |The Atlantic→
An American teacher in Helsinki questioned the national practice of giving 15 minute breaks each hour—until he saw the difference it made in his classroom.
Like a zombie, Sami—one of my fifth graders—lumbered over to me and hissed, “I think I’m going to explode! I’m not used to this schedule.” And I believed him. An angry red rash was starting to form on his forehead.
WASHINGTON — THE Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned discrimination in public accommodations, employment and federally funded activities like education, would not have passed without the support of House and Senate Republicans who were competing for black votes. And Presidents Kennedy and Johnson would not have advocated for the bill without being pressured to do so by a multiracial grass-roots movement. Continue reading As the #CivilRights Act Turns 50, Creating Cross-Racial Alliances | NYTimes→
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — THE United States Constitution speaks of the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction over “cases” and “controversies.” But when social controversies do come before the court, its powers are limited. In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, which concerned the dispute over the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate, the court may have decided the case. The larger controversy, however, won’t be settled so easily. Continue reading Paul Horwitz: #HobbyLobby Is Only the Beginning | NYTimes→
The official blog of life, the universe, and everything
