Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:
Writing in The American Prospect, Robert Kuttner asks is President Obama’s preference for “Zen leadership” is beneficial.
Hands off, above the fray, turning the other cheek, representing decency and common purpose, conserving rather than wielding power, uncomfortable with popular movements he doesn’t control — by some alchemy, this style of leadership is expected to produce the voter approval that puts polite pressure on the other party to join the quest for consensus. Reciprocity and compromise then result in effective government and popular adulation.
…
This has been Obama’s operating theory of power. For the most part, it hasn’t worked.
…
At times in American history, a detached and bipartisan presidency did work. Republican Dwight Eisenhower had his staff collaborate closely with Democratic Speaker Sam Rayburn and Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson. Ike, the war hero, loomed benignly as a figure above party.
…
As late as the 1990s, there were still moderate Republicans — and no economic catastrophe. Today, we live in drastically different times, ill-suited to Barack Obama’s operating theory of a conciliatory, above-the-fray presidency. At best, it may save his own re-election …. Either way, the cost is Obama colluding in the shift of our politics further to the right and the weakening of the president’s own party.
Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:
In the latest installment of its series on the North Carolina state budget, The News & Observer reports on the consequences of reductions in financial aid programs.
The reduction would follow a four-year spate of budget cuts that has forced universities to scale back considerably, with the budget year that starts in July promising to be the roughest yet. The state House’s budget proposal would cut nearly $472 million from the 17-campus university system, a 15 percent reduction in current funding.
…
Cuts at that level would force a dramatic change in the way public universities operate, UNC leaders say. Among other reductions, 3,200 jobs would be eliminated. That would include 1,500 faculty slots, about 10 percent of the system’s full-time faculty.
…
Republicans, in charge of the legislature for the first time in more than a century, say they will cut taxes, increase user fees, reduce health care for the poor, cut personnel in schools, and force college students to pay for more of their education. They have questioned longtime Democratic priorities and promised to use the budget to reshape North Carolina.
…
Though Republicans are targeting universities for significant cuts, the UNC system was hit hard as well during the last four legislative seasons under Democratic rule: $620 million was shaved from its annual budget in that time.
Rortybomb has released a new paper that debunks many of the claims that the current high level of unemployment is structural in nature.
There has been a straight decrease in the unemployment rate with virtually no increase in the job opening rate. The number of jobs available has remained flat and unemployment has fallen roughly one full percentage point. Those who were worried that any decrease in unemployment would happen alongside a runaway rise in the job opening rate should shift their concerns back toward low job growth.
…
The numbers guiding policymakers and experts are subject to revision, and job openings, a key component of any recovery, have turned out to be much lower than anyone had expected during 2010 when the debate over structural unemployment started.
…
Even before this, there was considerable evidence that there is tremendous slack in the economy and room for monetary and fiscal stimulus. With this correction, the story of an economy held in check by a weak labor force rather than weak jobs is harder to justify, and the argument for doing more is stronger.
Email Sign-Up | 
RSS Feed
