Who Is More Responsible for the U.S. Debt?

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Jul 28, 2011 in Best of the Blog, Blog | 2 comments   For today’s post I wanted to review the evidence for that oft talked about issue: who is more responsible for the U.S. debt?  If you ask a Republican it is “tax and spend” liberals that are responsible for the bulk of the U.S. government debt.  But if you talk with Democrats they ardently disagree.  So who is right? Well, like all things, it turns out that there are lots...
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Do Tax Increases Negatively Affect the Economy?

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Jul 27, 2011 in Best of the Blog, Blog | 2 comments   Continuing on with an examination of the U.S. debt crisis, let’s look at another oft talked about issue: that raising taxes leads to a decrease in gross domestic product (GDP).  As I said yesterday, feel free to download the What My Intuition Tells Me Now U.S. Budgetary Data spreadsheet to see my sources and calculations. Does Raising Taxes Stifle Economic Growth? I cannot emphasize...
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U.S. Taxes Lowest Since 1950

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Jul 26, 2011 in Best of the Blog, Blog | 0 comments   Since THE story of the moment is the U.S. budgetary crisis I plan on exploring this story’s many angles until this issue is no longer a crisis.  Today I wanted to talk about the revenue-side of the U.S. budget deficit and total debt problem.  That’s right let’s talk about revenues, alias (those dreaded) taxes. Right now Republicans are refusing to allow taxes to be...
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U.S. Debt Crisis Enters Absurd Territory

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Jul 25, 2011 in Blog | 2 comments   House of Representative Speaker John Boehner, Republican from the state of Ohio, pulled out of U.S. debt ceiling/budget deficit talks over the weekend.  His withdrawal has created anxiety in investors around the world and has punctured the hopes that a deal will be reached before the 2 August, 2011 deadline. I have written multiple pieces about the crisis, including: “Overview of...
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New Rules for the U.S. Electric Grid Are a Win

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Jul 23, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments   While the rest of the investment world focuses on the twin debt crises of Greece and the United States, there has been a very important development for improving the future of the environment.  Specifically, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on 21 July, 2011 outlined principles that would guide new rules for the U.S. electric grid. Most of the electric grid in the United...
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A Hardened Solution to Greek Debt Crisis

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Jul 22, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments   Late Thursday evening in Europe a hardened solution to the Greek debt crisis appears to have been worked out.  This solution is likely to bring to a close over 18 months of procrastination on the part of European leaders. Compromise won the day as the head of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, all gave in...
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Cash On Balance Sheets Is Big Concern

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Jul 21, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments   U.S. corporations are amassing massive amounts of cash – I am guessing over $3 trillion – on their balance sheets and this is a big concern of mine.  Why?  Because these corporations are earning about what you and I earn on cash balances – between 0.25% and 2.0%. In business school they teach you that businesses have several uses for cash: To pay down debt To pay...
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