The structure of America's fiscal cliff AMERICA'S economy seems to have slowed sharply in the current quarter as businesses postpone investment while waiting to see if politicians can avoid sending the country over the "fiscal cliff". That's the combination of tax increases and spending reductions scheduled for the year end. Economists at Credit Suisse have put together a chart of the cliff's components, their size and the likelihood that they will in fact take effect. The total hit is about 5% of GDP. Barack Obama and Congress are most intent on avoiding the expiration of George Bush's tax cuts on the middle class, and the automatic spending cuts (called a "sequester"). Those equal about 2% of GDP. But the parts that are almost certain to occur—expiration of the payroll-tax cut, imposition of discretionary spending caps—still equal a hefty 1.9% of GDP, quite a lot for a still weak economy to support. ( THE ECONOMIST ) Read more : http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/11/daily-chart-23 This Article explains how the Obama win affect the US economy in the years to come .... Read full article : http://www.boston.com/business/technology/2012/11/07/how-obama-victory-could-affect-areas-economy/KmOa8LhK4fekmJKQnPxnmL/story.html HAD Barack Obama lost to Mitt Romney yesterday, the explanation would have barely taken up a sentence: the economy defeated him. Mr Romney’s mission from day one was simple. Pound home the message that Mr Obama took a bad economy and made it worse, and leave the facts to do the rest: unemployment stuck at around 8% and four straight years of trillion-dollar deficits ... " the Economist" Read the full Article : http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2012/11/economy-and-election There have been five New York blackouts in my lifetime, which, if nothing else, suggests that it is hardly an aberrant event. The one in 1965 was a little spooky but exciting. In retrospect, it was a crack in the city that would widen into the anarchy of the blackout in 1977, with its rampant looting and arson. A disaster is good if, for nothing else, bringing into stark relief the vulnerabilities of a community.... "The Economist" Read More : http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2012/11/sandy |
AuthorFree thinker .... Free Writer Archives
February 2017
Categories |