Romney released some of his 2011 Tax returns, along with more to come in the next couple of weeks. He was taxed at around 14%, due to his tax sheltering from investments. How does this sound to you? Do his 'tax deductible' instruments from charitable donations and investments--make this low rate more equitable?
(link)
Friday, September 21, 2012
What kind of social welfare function would explain the shrinking life expectancy for some whites in US?
From today's New York Times is a piece on the increasing disparity and decline in mortality rates for the least educated Americans, particularly for white women without high school diplomas:
This pattern is perfectly consistent with a utilitarian social welfare function but not a Rawlsian one which would maximize the welfare of the most vulnerable groups in society.
In international rankings, according to the article:
The dropping life expectancies have helped weigh down the United States in international life expectancy rankings, particularly for women. In 2010, American women fell to 41st place, down from 14th place in 1985, in the United Nations rankings. Among developed countries, American women sank from the middle of the pack in 1970 to last place in 2010, according to the Human Mortality Database.
The five-year decline for white women rivals the catastrophic seven-year drop for Russian men in the years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, said Michael Marmot, director of the Institute of Health Equity in London.The decline among the least educated non-Hispanic whites, who make up a shrinking share of the population, widened an already troubling gap. The latest estimate shows life expectancy for white women without a high school diploma was 73.5 years, compared with 83.9 years for white women with a college degree or more. For white men, the gap was even bigger: 67.5 years for the least educated white men compared with 80.4 for those with a college degree or better. (see link for story)
This pattern is perfectly consistent with a utilitarian social welfare function but not a Rawlsian one which would maximize the welfare of the most vulnerable groups in society.
In international rankings, according to the article:
The dropping life expectancies have helped weigh down the United States in international life expectancy rankings, particularly for women. In 2010, American women fell to 41st place, down from 14th place in 1985, in the United Nations rankings. Among developed countries, American women sank from the middle of the pack in 1970 to last place in 2010, according to the Human Mortality Database.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Central Banks Flexing Their Muscle
Worldwide easement of monetary policy, and mass injections of stimulus from world banks has come in a domino effect in the past couple weeks. No one is talking about deflation...but should we be? Moves by the American Central bank the past few years have been nothing but deflationary in nature. What global ramifications does this type of monetary policy create? (link)
Wall Street's Perception of Obama
The article provided below shows how bankers and those
working for big financial institutions see Obama. The answer might surprise you put an end to
the perception that rich business people are in favor of Romney whereas the
working class would favor Obama. According to the article, after surveying
hundreds of institutional investors at Royal Bank of Scotland, 83% favored
Obama. The article provides an explanation
on why this is. Since most of the people
in this class are business/ economics majors, what do you think about Obama
from a purely economic standpoint?
The Wild West on Wall Street
New reporting by the Wall Street Journal highlights a new type of trading. "High frequency trading" firms can jump ahead of normal investors and traders when it comes to ordinary stock market trading. This raises a larger issue of how our trading functions on the stock market, and what type of regulations can control this ever-developing market structure. How do you feel about this type of trading? Is it egalitarian? (link)
Gov. Romney is getting hammered
“When people show you who they are believe them; the first time.”--Maya Angelou (via the equally inimitable Oprah).
Charles Blow, an opinion writer for The New York Times, started his commentary today (see link) with that quote. How do we judge Gov. Romney? Should we judge him? Don't you wish there was some preference revelation calculus that we could do so that we could be comfortable with our judgements? I do.
We can look at the President who ran his campaign in 2008 based on an audacity of hope, that the middle class would reclaim its place in America. But the middle class is shrinking. Is it his fault? Can even the most powerful man in the world affect economic events like that? Should we believe that he tried to do what he said he would? How do we judge him? Again, economic theory is based on perfect information. We have none.
Charles Blow, an opinion writer for The New York Times, started his commentary today (see link) with that quote. How do we judge Gov. Romney? Should we judge him? Don't you wish there was some preference revelation calculus that we could do so that we could be comfortable with our judgements? I do.
We can look at the President who ran his campaign in 2008 based on an audacity of hope, that the middle class would reclaim its place in America. But the middle class is shrinking. Is it his fault? Can even the most powerful man in the world affect economic events like that? Should we believe that he tried to do what he said he would? How do we judge him? Again, economic theory is based on perfect information. We have none.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Socialism vs. Capitalism, Where Does the Unites States Stand?
In light of the current presidential campaign, Obama’s
federal tax cuts are causing him to be labeled by opponents as a
socialist. The author of this article
brings to attention that though tax cuts may be seen as socialistic, the bailouts
made during the financial crisis are much more socialistic. Think back our
class discussion yesterday. On the topic of socialism vs. capitalism, where do
you think the U.S. heading?
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