gdp's Comments

KeithHennessey.com : Obama Economy Facts

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:51:01 +0000

Check out the first few paragraphs. Mr. Hennessey didn't write the title of the article, that was the Daily News' doing. I've never seen Mr. Hennessey refer to President Obama as anything other than the President or President Obama. But I do agree with some of your sentiment. I subscribed to this blog because of its detail/specificity. (Example: the post on the phrase "too big to fail." Is it those banks couldn't fail? That we didn't want them to? Awesome.) This post, compared to previous posts, is severely lacking in detail.

KeithHennessey.com : Comparing Obama economics to Clinton economics

Wed, 4 Aug 2010 21:37:02 +0000

Thanks for the post, I enjoyed reading this. I think President Clinton's surplus/defecit signs are reversed in your spreadsheet. Unless I'm reading this wrong the 1993 - 2001 average balance should be a defecit, not surplus.

KeithHennessey.com : When Presidents attack

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:16:48 +0000

I agree with what you're saying Eric, although I would not have used the word "corrupted" b/c it could imply illegality. Unfortunately this level of political showmanship is not illegal. I think Democrats, Republicans, and Anarcho Syndicalist Communists will all agree that our budget deficit is not a new problem. Yet President Obama, in almost every conversation on the issue I've seen, blames President Bush for the problem. Spuriously. On the other hand $35 b in spending cuts will unfortunately not make a small dent in the deficit, right? So why, to repeat what I thought was an excellent point, conflate these two issues?

KeithHennessey.com : The President’s recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick

Wed, 7 Jul 2010 21:24:04 +0000

@generic: I think you're correct in saying both sides play too much politics. But I don't think we (we = Americans. I know, v. general) get anywhere by justifying this sort of maneuvering by pointing fingers. We (again, Americans) want something better, right? Lets hold everyone, not no one, accountable. This being said, I'd like to point out that anyone can see a copy of IHI's IRS 2008 and 2009 Form 990s. You can register for free to download PDFs at www.guidestar.org. This form does not list specific donors, but does inform this discussion. What I think is notable (this is all tax year 2009): Total revenue: about $35 million. About $11 million from non gov't contributions/grants. Dr. Berwick salary: about $2.3 million The organization DOES have a written conflict of interest policy. The organization is all over the place. America, Europe, Africa. One program I saw is a partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to reduce the rate of childhood mortality in Ghana.

KeithHennessey.com : Oil spill crisis as opportunity

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:58:45 +0000

Great post, I enjoyed reading this. I have two questions: What is stopping a Congressman from proposing stricter drilling regulations? Why is the President proposing a cap-and-trade system instead of a simple carbon tax?

KeithHennessey.com : Headed in the right direction. Must go faster.

Wed, 19 May 2010 19:04:42 +0000

Glad to see another post. This is by far my favorite blog. Update more often! Shouldn't one account for inflated housing prices when discussing pre-recession GDP? If homes were overvalued during the 2000s, and financial firms/institutions/investors for a time made a lot of cash from skyrocketing home prices through derivatives of various kinds, wouldn't this mean that some portion of pre-recession GDP growth wasn't really growth at all? Housing's contribution may be negligible. But if it is not, I think it would be fair to adjust the recovery threshhold down to compensate for this fake, housing-bubble growth.