They are not communists, if communism means the system that deservedly collapsed in 1990 - and remember that communists who are still in power run today the most ruthless capitalism. The success of Chinese communist-run capitalism is an ominous sign that the marriage between capitalism and democracy is approaching a divorce. The only sense in which ( Read more... )

Think of the union as a company itself, a special sort of company which operates as a monopsony. When you join the employer, you are actually joining two companies: the employer and the company which provides employees to the employer. The union company and the regular company have a tight relationship, but this is no different from an ordinary ( Read more... )

Until recently, newspaper editorial pages overwhelmingly favored Republican presidential candidates. Over the past three decades, however, the endorsement scales have been balancing out, eventually tipping towards the Democrats in the past two presidential elections.

via fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com

I thought the media was simply liberal...

"What happened last night was horrific," Luntz said. There were cries of "Yes" from the audience. Luntz had a message for the candidates: "Do not think you are helping your cause by destroying one another."

Former House speaker Gingrich rounded on Perry and Romney too, saying: "The bickering does not help the Republican party … it hurts the ( Read more... )

Muammar Gaddafi has been killed as his home town of Sirte was overrun by fighters seeking to complete the eight-month uprising in Libya, the interim prime minister has announced.

The former dictator reportedly died from wounds in his head and legs. It was unclear whether he was hit in a Nato air strike on a convoy fleeing Sirte, a firefight on the ( Read more... )

In my previous post decrying the extreme redistribution of the tax burden from the wealthy to everyone else, I had to use two graphs to tell the story.  I couldn’t fit the increase in tax liabilities for the bottom 80% on the same graph that includes the over $1 million decrease in tax liability for the top 0.1%.

But my CBPP colleague Brian ( Read more... )

And in New York, it seems the Occupy movement is gathering strength. At one point on Thursday it seemed like it could all be over, when the owners of Zuccotti Park said they planned to clean up the plaza and prevent people from using sleeping bags and other camping gear - in effect, an eviction. The NYPD were standing by to enforce the new rules, ( Read more... )

The Canadian government should investigate possible criminal charges against former US President George W. Bush for his role in authorizing the torture of detainees, Human Rights Watch said today. Bush is scheduled to visit to Surrey, British Columbia on October 20, 2011.

via www.hrw.org...And again. It's true, these people should not have the ( Read more... )

Frankly, Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims. And among those Muslims led by the Imam Rauf there is hardly one who has raised a fuss about the routine and random bloodshed that defines their brotherhood.

via delong.typepad.comWhat's weird about statements like these is that homicide rates are generally low in most muslim countries. Low, ( Read more... )

Anwar al-Awlaki, a dual US-Yemeni citizen, has been one of America's top targets in its fight against al-Qaida. His firebrand rhetoric had become renowned on jihadi websites and is thought to have inspired many more followers. With a blog, a Facebook page and numerous YouTube videos of his sermons, he had increasingly been regarded by the US as one ( Read more... )