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FDR v. Obama’s Leadership
David Westen wrote an article in the NYT comparing Obama’s leadership to FDR. This is a pretty vogue comparison because it compares two Democratic presidents in the myst of an economic… Read More
And it happened…
This is what happens when you play chicken with an economic freight train. If you’re interested in academic takes on the credit downgrade, I recommend the following links:… Read More
A Long History of Super Committees: The Connecticut Compromise
I’ve taken a bit of a hiatus from the blog the past few weeks. I had to make some editorial revisions to my dissertation, pack everything, move, unpack and prepare my syllabi… Read More
Debt Ceiling Non-Compromise and the “Super” Committee
I missed this a few days ago but recently found a piece Sean Theriault, associate professor at Texas, wrote at CNN on the debt crisis and compromise. It’s a… Read More
The Debt Ceiling and the Decline of American Democracy
Jacob Hacker and Oona Hathaway, both professors at Yale University, have a very good op-ed in today’s New York Times. I definitely recommend it. To sum up their argument,… Read More
Sarah Binder on Super Congresses
Sarah Binder has a great post over at the Monkey Cage on the precedent and utility of “super committees.” It’s absolutely worth the read if you want to understand what this… Read More
Really? A ‘Super Congress?’
This is one of the more strange spins I’ve read on a new joint committee. Senate leaders, along with Speaker Boehner, are proposing a new committee of 12 members. Read More
Burying the Lead: Grade Inflation and the Public-Private Divide
The following graph (available here at Flowing Data) has been doing the blog and twitter circuit the past few days. The data, collected by Stuart Rojstaczer, shows the average GPA… Read More
Debt Ceiling: An Artificial Crisis?
If you haven’t visited the Monkey Cage recently, you should. There are excellent posts from Bryan Jones and Sarah Binder, among others on the debt ceiling and how… Read More
Happy 4th of July!
Rule 22ers are off enjoying today’s festivities and hopes you are doing the same. Here is some light reading from Gordon Wood on the full significance of the Fourth. Read More