Fiscal cliff deal does more harm than good to the U.S. economy

  A majority of elected officials in Washington, D.C. once again have proven how disconnected they are from economic reality by passing their so-called remedy to the “fiscal cliff.” The politicians argue their deal averted the catastrophe of massive tax increases and arbitrary spending cuts in federal programs. The reality, of course, is that compared […]

What’s ahead for 2013? Likely more of the same

So we’ve survived the apocalypse supposedly foretold by the end of the ancient Mayan calendar. And we didn’t tumble off the so-called fiscal cliff, even though the last-minute deal worked out to avert tax hikes and automatic government spending cuts was rightfully panned by some as causing more harm than good. So what’s next for […]

Here’s hoping the trials of 2012 won’t follow us into 2013

When I look forward to 2013 for our local business economy, the state and national economies and a whole bunch of just about everything else, I see history repeating itself. Sadly, much of it isn’t very good. Let’s face the facts. This is the second of heaven knows how many fiscal cliffs we’ll face as […]

Evaluating Michigan: Right-to-work legislation offers a glimmer of hope

It can generally be accepted the fall of 2012 wasn’t a particularly good one for conservatives or our cause. But, as generally happens, there exist here and there glimmers of contrarian resistance. One of these glimmers occurred in Michigan, whose governor signed right-to-work legislation allowing workers the right to associate with whomever they wish. There […]

Latest data reflects little change in an underperforming recovery

A major election is behind us. Yet, little has really changed, and that includes the state of our economy. We’ve been stuck in a grossly underperforming economic recovery after a long, deep recession. Unfortunately, there’s little in the data to tell us that things are changing in any substantive way for the positive. In fact, […]

U.S. prospects stuck between a fiscal cliff and a hard place

In the course of perusing the “fiscal cliff” rhetoric dominating the political world recently, I came across a story about deliberations over the Times magazine “Person of the Year.” While meditating on the issues surrounding the fiscal cliff, it occurred to me the perfect nominee for the Times cover is Julia — the haplessly dependent […]

Opinion on the Economy

Those weary of reading gloomy news as a stubbornly slow economy grinds along can take heart as such words as “recovery” and “rebound” start appearing in headlines. By many accounts, the economic news is improving, if not markedly so. The latest economic outlook report from the University of Colorado is especially upbeat in forecasting business […]