Paul Krugman is the latest economics commentator to endorse the hottest solution going to the debt ceiling standoff: minting a $1 trillion coin. The Treasury, proponents say, has the right to mint coins of any denomination. By making and depositing a $1 trillion coin with the Fed, the Treasury could create an accounting credit which […]

When we last saw famous French actor Gerard Depardieu in the news, he was moving to Belgium to escape France’s absurdly high proposed 75 percent tax rate on high-income earners. We quipped that the French had nothing to fear, as his house on the border meant that he would still be close by. Well, France, […]

Not many people noticed but yesterday Pakistani and Indian soldiers shot at each other and, according to the Pakistanis, Indian forces raided a Pakistani outpost. Remember that Kashmir is the site of the world’s most dangerous standoff between nuclear powers. The Hindustan Times reports: Pakistan on Monday lodged a protest over what it described as an “unprovoked […]

Dr. Tahirul Qadri, a Sufi preacher turned rabble-rouser, has announced a plan to march with millions of supporters from Karachi to Islamabad next week in support of a broad program of political reform. Qadri first leaped onto the national political stage at an enormous rally in Lahore late last month, where he demanded reforms before […]

When Britain’s Conservatives and Liberal Democrats formed the country’s first coalition government since World War II, many predicted that it wouldn’t last until the next election. So far, the coalition is still together, but the British public remains pessimistic about its fortunes, with only 16 percent polled last summer believing the coalition would last another […]

Iranian officials are calling it an “economic war”, and according to recent reports that’s an accurate description. Following new rounds of US sanctions issued yesterday, the Associated Press reports today that Iranian oil revenue has plummeted: Iran’s revenues from vital oil and gas exports have dropped by 45 percent because of sanctions over its suspect nuclear program, […]

Decades of activism haven’t taught greens much about policy. The latest horror out of the sequential failure machine known as the green movement is the biofuels disaster now afflicting the Guatemalan poor. The New York Times reports: Recent laws in the United States and Europe that mandate the increasing use of biofuel in cars have […]

When we talk about America’s fiscal crisis, in large part what we’re talking about boils down to spending in one area: health care. Health care spending already accounts for more than 15 percent of U.S. GDP, and programs like Medicare and Medicaid are on track to devour the entire budget unless something changes. If America […]

The long term threats to the sustainability of Social Security are well known. Higher average life expectancies combined with declining demographics mean that the program’s funds will run out in 2033, according to current government estimates. Writing in the NYT, Gary King and Samir Sonjei warn, however, that the 2033 estimate is based on data […]

Did you know that beer was an alcoholic substance and not a “food product”? That’s what Moscow has just declared in its latest bid to curb alcohol use in one of the planet’s tipsiest countries. The status change means that beer will no longer be allowed to be sold in street kiosks and will only […]