Did a Spreadsheet Error Cost You Your Job? | Op-Eds & Columns

  By Cyrus | April 25, 2013 - 12:41 am | Uncategorized
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Did a Spreadsheet Error Cost You Your Job? | Op-Eds & Columns. By Dean Baker Did an Excel error cost you your job? This is what people around the world should be asking after researchers at the University of Massachusetts uncovered a serious calculation mistake. The mistake was in an enormously influential paper by Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff, two prominent economists, which purports to show that high levels of government debt lead to slow economic growth. This paper has been widely cited by political figures around the world who have been pushing the case for cutting back government spending and raising … Continue reading this post →

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Fox News poll: Majorities support new gun measures | Fox News

  By Cyrus | April 17, 2013 - 8:58 am | Gun Reform
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I just got off the phone with a staffer for Senator Cruz of Texas.  I was urging the Senator to not block the vote today on background checks on gun sales and expressed bewilderment that he would filibuster such a vote.  I told the guy that 80-90% of his constituents support background checks.  He gave a variety of answers, and I have included each with my response to him below: “There has been no poll on the bill” – true, but there have been many polls on universal background checks, specifically at gun shows and online sales, which is what … Continue reading this post →

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Texas drought interactive website | NPR StateImpact

  By Cyrus | February 26, 2013 - 9:54 am | Climate & Environment
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NPR has put together an incredible website full of information and interactive tools on the Texas drought: Texas drought maps and photos | NPR StateImpact. I have a friend who worked in the Texas Legislature for several years. He and his Rep tried hard to introduce a bill into committee (I believe it was the 2011 session) that simply required Texas state agencies to plan for the contingency of drought. They couldn’t even get the bill a hearing in the committee because in the eyes of the right-wing ideologues that control this (and many other) state government, it was one … Continue reading this post →

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Leaking nuclear sludge could threaten Columbia River

  By Cyrus | February 20, 2013 - 12:50 pm | Climate & Environment, Energy Policy & Economics
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Editor’s Note: Yet another example of the huge externalities we pay for supposedly cheap nuclear power. Just the cost of building the facility to clean up this nuclear waste is $13 Billion!  For one site.  Nevermind the cost of building that facility in the first place!  $13 Billion would pay for the wind energy Production Tax Credit for 10 years!  The energy debate in this country is so freaking stupid!   Fuel Fix » Leaking nuclear sludge could threaten Columbia River. News that a storage tank at a shuttered federal nuclear facility in Washington state is leaking radioactive sludge has … Continue reading this post →

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Big Coals Big Problems (Rolling Stone Magazine)

  By Cyrus | February 11, 2013 - 11:15 am | Climate & Environment, Energy Policy & Economics
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Editor’s Note: While cheap natural gas prices and more stringent regulation of coal emissions has made new coal plants virtually impossible to pencil in the US, existing coal plants are still the main point-source of CO2 pollution domestically.  Further, we are now exporting more coal than ever before to Europe where power prices are much higher than in the US.  We’re not going to see real reductions in global CO2 until we not just stop growing the coal industry, but actually dramatically shrink it. Big Coal’s Big Problems (Rolling Stone Magazine) You wouldn’t have guessed it from all the theatrics of … Continue reading this post →

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The Gun Debate: Lawmakers eye troubled background check system | Fox News

  By Cyrus | February 1, 2013 - 3:17 pm | Gun Reform
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The Gun Debate: Lawmakers eye troubled background check system | Fox News. Good article that discusses the fact that the background check system is plagued by gross under-reporting of records of criminals and the mentally ill by a number of states.  At the center of the issue is the National Instant Criminal Background Check System or NICS.  As the article explained, even though Congress has passed legislation empowering the Department of Justice to address undereporting by states by using both intensives and penalties, DOJ has so far only used the carrots and not the sticks.  According to the Government Accountability Office:  44 states had … Continue reading this post →

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Concerned Scientists: Renewables Secure From Drought – Forbes

  By Cyrus | January 24, 2013 - 8:19 pm | Climate & Environment
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Concerned Scientists: Renewables Secure From Drought – Forbes. Even those who don’t believe humans are causing climate change have a hard time rebuffing the national-security argument—which contends that a diverse domestic energy portfolio makes the United States less vulnerable to disruptions of its energy supply. Drought may not be the first threat that comes to mind, but the Union of Concerned Scientists contends that this summer’s drought is already straining the operation of water-heavy fossil fuel and nuclear plants.  “Our power sector is built for a water-rich world, and when that world is water poor, power plants and electricity users face … Continue reading this post →

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The Economic Impact and Financing of Infrastructure Spending

  By Cyrus | January 21, 2013 - 1:24 pm | Uncategorized
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I was recently having a debate with a conservative friend about the efficacy of infrastructure spending by the government vs. private sector.  His point was that any dollar spent by the private sector will be more efficient than the same dollar spent by government.  I generally agreed, but pointed out that the private sector under-invests in things like infrastructure and R&D as a matter of basic economic theory (to read more on this check out my article about the concept of “market failure” here). Additionally, I made the point that borrowing $1 at near-zero rates and investing in infrastructure & R&D, … Continue reading this post →

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