Paul Ryan Gives The Fed Credit For US Economic Growth

Paul Ryan has a tough job.  The Tea Party crowd in the House hates the Fed, but Ryan can't give Obama credit for the economic growth that occurred during his administration.  Ryan was forced to give a press conference in which he gave the Fed credit for US economic growth.  He will now have to explain to House tea lovers why he has fallen in love with the Fed.  He has spent much of his time in office predicting that Fed policies would create hyperinflation and debase the dollar.  The tea drinkers in the House are still waiting for Ryan's divine prophesies to come true.  They are certain that there will be a "second coming".

George Will Exposes Marco Rubio

David Brooks told us why Ted Cruz was not a good conservative.  George Will, who is the Washington Post's chief conservative mouthpiece, tells his audience that Marco Rubio is not a true conservative.  He enumerates his sins in this article.  Most of his sins were due to his support for Obama Administration policies.  The GOP is running out of true conservative candidates.  Neither Brooks or Will would support Donald Trump.  Who is left at the bottom of the pile of dung that is running for government office in order to shut down funding for everything but Defense?  This problem may have inspired the Washington Post to attack Brooks for destroying one of its leading populist candidates.  All of its candidates are tarnishing the GOP brand by pretending that they have the same values as the populists who they need to win elections.

How Wall Street Helped Ted Cruz To Campaign Against Wall Street

Ted Cruz won the GOP primary that allowed him to run for a Senate seat that he eventually won.  His campaign failed to report large loans that he received from Wall Street banks to finance his campaign.  There was a good reason for the campaign to violate election campaign disclosure laws.  He ran as a Tea Party firebrand who opposed the bailout of the Wall Street banks.  He and his wife, who was a Goldman Sachs executive in Houston, borrowed large sums against their Goldman Sachs investment account to finance ads that helped him to win the nomination.  The campaign also received a large loan from CitiBank which it failed to disclose.  If that information were disclosed it would have made it difficult for Cruz to brand himself as a right wing populist who intended to punish the Wall Street banks for their sins. 

Campaign disclosure laws are intended to provide information to voters that will help them to make informed decisions when they vote.  Politicians like Cruz ignore those laws when they interfere with their branding efforts.  They believe that selling the brand to poorly informed voters is more important than conformance to laws which interfere with effective branding. 

How The Right Has Captured State Governments In US

This article describes the programs adopted by the right to gain control of state governments.  The focus on the right is "economic freedom".  This enlists support from extraction industries which benefit from deregulation.  They also take a communitarian approach by focusing on local community organizations like the Elks, veteran groups and religious organizations.  Their approach contrasts with the focus on "personal freedom" by progressive groups.  Their advocacy of sexual freedom and personal liberty has provided an opportunity for the right to use social values as wedge issues. This takes the focus off of economic issues which have historically benefited Democrats. 

David Brooks Crucifies Ted Cruz

David Brooks is arguably the conservative spokesperson with the largest following among educated readers. His description of Ted Cruz's character is devastating. It is an opinion that is shared by many of his Republican colleagues in the Senate.  Unfortunately, he is the favorite to win the primary in Iowa and he has is only surpassed by Donald Trump in the national polls.  The majority of Republican primary voters approve of the messages that are being delivered by Cruz and Trump.  The political party that Brooks represents is the party of Cruz and Trump.  Marco Rubio, who is the best alternative to Cruz and Trump according to Brooks, is not that different from Cruz or Trump in the policies that he advocates.  All of the GOP primary candidates have moved closer to Cruz and Trump as the campaign has progressed.  They have learned what their base is looking for.  They are a sorry lot but that is what their Party has become

The Separation Of Morality From The Modern University And Its Social Impact

This article is about the transformation of philosophy from the pursuit of virtue as it was absorbed into the research university.  Philosophers gave up the pursuit of virtue in order to demonstrate how smart they had become as they imitated the natural scientists and social scientists who pursued objective knowledge.  This article provides a critique of modern philosophy but it is even more apparent in modern economics.  Milton Friedman declared that economics was an objective science and that it no moral purpose.  It did not matter how the output of the economy was distributed as long as it pursued efficiency.  Friedman also issued a commandment about the mission of the corporation.  Its purpose was to maximize profits and shareholder value.  The corporation has no moral purpose; it is only constrained by laws which it should play a major role in determining.  It is not surprising that corporate incentive systems have evolved so that corporate executives and shareholders have a common interest.  It is also not surprising that executives, who are rewarded for short term performance,  would take risks that might be harmful to society and to longer term shareholders.  Few of the executives who contributed to the financial crisis faced criminal prosecution.  The executives at Volkswagen took risks that rewarded them in the short term, but they do not face criminal prosecution for violating laws that were designed to protect society.  The long term survival of Volkswagen has also been put at risk. 

European Union Declares Belgian Tax Breaks To Multinational Corporations Illegal

Belgian gave tax breaks to around 50 MNC's which have been declared illegal.  The government will be required to demand payment of uncollected taxes from the the MNC's.  The decision was based upon the concept of unfair competition.  Providing tax breaks to MNC's was unfair to domestic competitors who did not receive the tax breaks.  This could spread to other nations which provide similar tax breaks to MNC's.  For example, Ireland is a tax haven for MNC's which find ways to locate their profits in Ireland even though Ireland is not the source of their revenue.