Recession

“[A] U.S. recession caused by the fiscal crisis in Europe would be very costly and could throw millions of Americans out of work.” So says the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a think tank that numbers Pulitzer Prize winning, generally liberal economists Joe Stiglitz and Robert Solow among its advisory board members.

CNN: "Officials confirm 'credible but unconfirmed' 9/11 threat"

Andrew Stiles: "Hensarling: Lay Off the Supercommittee"

The Hill: "Disgraced former-Rep. Wu makes surprise appearance at Obama's speech"

Sure, the rest of America's hurting economically, but Congressional leaders are doing quite well.

Walter Russell Mead: "Is Carter A Best Case Scenario?"

Robert Samuelson: "Are we stumbling into another recession?"

"US Housing Crisis Is Now Worse Than Great Depression"

Last week I wrote a piece about the great comic book bubble of 1993. Today I got a note from Ron Forman, who owned one of the regional distribution companies that Diamond drove out of business, setting the bubble in motion. Ron helpfully adds that it was The Return of Superman and Turok #1—think of them as the comic book version of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers—which precipitated the collapse.

The U.S. economy might be on the verge of a double-dip recession, while Europe is paralyzed by a massive debt crisis afflicting the governments on the periphery of the eurozone. Alarming as they are, both of these stories are just part of an even gloomier overall economic picture of the West.

"Bill Clinton to Paul Ryan on Medicare Election: ‘Give me a Call’"

Is NY-26 a "A Blue-Collar Warning Sign"?

Stay classy, Ed Schultz.

I have noticed something unsettling in my own life lately: I know a lot of people who are on food stamps or some kind of extraordinary government assistance. The count right now stands around 10 people, which is a lot for a small town denizen such as myself.

Over at The Atlantic, Derek Thompson flags this terrifying indicator:

The folks at econstories.tv are back with round two of their entertaining and informative rap battle between economists John Maynard Keynes and F. A. Hayek. Watch it below:

Let me bore you with some numbers. Employment dipped to 137,960,000 in December 2009. That may seem like a lot of Americans with jobs, but it happened to be the low point in the recession that began before President Obama took office the prior January.

At this point, conventional wisdom suggests that it will be difficult for Republicans to force and win a vote before the midterm elections on extending tax cuts for all Americans. The main obstacle is the Senate, where Republicans would have to get 19 Democratic votes. There are now five Democratic senators on record favoring the more comprehensive extension that Republicans want.