Last week, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) unveiled her first piece of legislation on the Senate floor — a proposal to allow students to borrow at the same rates as banks. While this move galvanizes the populist movement, the economics behind it does not quite add up. The interest rate on direct subsidized loans for undergrads … Continue reading »
Flexible and nimble, these are the words chosen by one Obama Administration official as part of the announcement earlier this week that the application to apply for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) shiny new state exchanges would be trimmed to three pages. The presentation of the new form, meant to remind the … Continue reading »
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” I asked the small group of kids gathered in a circle in front of me. “I want to be a Narco” eight-year-old Pepe replied without hesitation. The community center in one of the poorest and most violent sectors of Monterrey, México was Pepe’s recreational sphere, … Continue reading »
February’s job report looked so promising. Unemployment was down by .2% and 236,000 jobs were added to the economy. The economic outlook was great. Then the jobs report for March came out. What happened? In a blog post I wrote last month I predicted that the promising economic outlook was premature and that March’s report … Continue reading »
Last week, the AFL-CIO, the largest labor union in the country, and the US Chamber of Commerce finally reached a deal on the amount of visas that will be granted to guest workers, once immigration legislation is introduced and hopefully passed. During the last attempt to pass immigration reform in 2007, one of the main … Continue reading »
The North Korean military forces are combat ready on the highest alert to launch an attack against the U.S mainland, Hawaii, Guam and other bases in the Pacific, according to a press release issued on Tuesday morning. What used to be considered part of the ordinary dynamic of provocations against the United States has taken … Continue reading »
After housing indicators showed positive growth signs for the housing market last month, the first housing numbers released this month, from NAHB/Well Fargo, reported their third consecutive decline in their housing market index (HMI), with a decrease of two-points to 44. A suffering housing market suggests a struggling economy. The chart below shows the drastic … Continue reading »
Social, economic and political problems plague policy makers and focus attention on an array of both domestic and foreign issues. Congress is notably polarized and it seems that the more important an issue may be, the more difficult compromise is. Top environmental issues tend to revolve around energy production, renewable energy technology, food production, water … Continue reading »
The new trend in campaign politics is to call for a ban on out-of-state groups and PAC’s from spending money in races opposing or supporting a specific candidate. This tactic is an attempt to show the voting public that the said election is “Not like those other elections” and that the candidates in the race … Continue reading »
Perhaps no one likes being told that the world has passed them by or that their sun may be setting. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), at 78, has recently come under heavy criticism from those who have labeled the organization a curmudgeon that has failed to keep up with technology and is now in the … Continue reading »
