Lou Dobbs for Governor

I just got an email from a group calling itself "America's Voice calling attention to a spoof Lou Dobbs for Governor site they've put up because Dobbs is ostensibly "contemplating a run for Governor of New Jersey next year." Lou Dobbs for Governor: Because Nothing Says “Welcome to the Garden State” Like “Show Me Your Papers Amigo!”

Ron Paul Phenomenon Not About Ron Paul

Joe Carter, in an interesting reflection on his 30 days working for the Huckabee campaign, makes this observation: The Ron Paul Phenomenon is Not About Ron Paul -- It will take a more astute political mind than I possess to comprehend this Ron Paul phenomenon. All I know is that it has less to do with the candidate than about ...

Lou Dobbs Running for President?

Nativist windbag Lou Dobbs seems to be running a stealth campaign for president, writes Political Insider's Cicero. Is populist CNN broadcaster Lou Dobbs mulling a political future? Writing at CNN.com last week, Dobbs said, "One year from now, we will have elected a new president. As eager as I am for that reality, I can't imagine any one of the ...

Lying Lou

Lou Dobbs that is. Daniel Drezner points to New York Times op-ed that looks at some of Lou Dobbs claims, and the results aren't pretty. The [60 Minutes] segment was a profile of Mr. Dobbs, and while doing background research for it, a “60 Minutes” producer came across a 2005 news report from Mr. Dobbs’s CNN program on contagious diseases. ...

Xenophobia

Cross-posted from PoliBlog: While there are very important and legitimate issues that need debating and resolution in the immigration arena, one of the major problems that has stymied such debate is the clear presence of xenophobia (meaning the irrational fear of foreign persons or foreign things in general) that infuses the discussion. A case in point is Lou Dobbs and his ...

The Problem With Being an Economist

Well, one of the problems anyways, is highlighted (WSJ, subscription required) by Nobel laureate, Edward Prescott. Of all the thankless jobs that economists set for themselves when it comes to educating people about economics, the notion that society is better off if some industries are allowed to wither, their workers lose their jobs, and investors lose their capital -- all in ...

Technology Not Globalisation Drives Down Wages

So says Columbia professor of economics Jagdish Bhagwati. And when it comes to understand the economis of international trade and finance you'd be hard pressed to find somebody more qualified than Prof. Bhagwati. And even better he takes a swipe at that sanctimonious boob Lou Dobbs, Lou Dobbs of CNN, the labour groups’ think-tank Economic Policy Institute and nearly ...

The New Protectionism?

With all the focus on off-shoring, out-sourcing, and now this article in the Washington Post by Senators Byron Dorgan and Sherrod Brown I can't help but think we might be looking at a new era in which the idea of free trade takes a big hit. The thing is that free trade doesn't hurt, it helps. Sure free trade makes ...

Service Offshoring and Productivity

Some new research at the NBER points towards service offshoring having positive effect on U.S. manufacturing productivity. Amiti and Shang-Jin find that from 1992 to 2000, "service offshoring" accounted for around 11 percent of the productivity growth in U.S. manufacturing industries compared to the 3 to 6 percent gain attributable to imported material inputs." Their analysis is the first comprehensive study ...

Daniel Griswold on Mercantalist Logic

I find the post rather humorous, but then again I'm an economics geek. If you are too lazy to read the post here is the short version: Mercantilist thinking holds that exports are good, imports are bad. Hence the loss of 5,000 Japanese cars on their way to Canada is nothing but a net benefit for global society. Conclusion: More goods ...

Aztlán, Reconquista, and Anti-Immigration Racism

LiberalOasis reports that CNN's Lou Dobbs ran the graphic at right, which was "sourced to the Council of Conservative Citizens, a group deemed to have a 'white supremacy' ideology according to the Anti-Defamation League." Further, "During a piece about illegal immigrants in Utah, reporter Casey Wian said, 'Utah is also part of the territory some militant Latino activists ...

Fox News Ratings Down (CNN’s Down Twice As Much)

The ratings at Fox News are down among viewers aged 25 to 54, leading Scott Collins of the LAT to speculate on the cause. Some recent ratings news no doubt gladdened the hearts of Fox News Channel haters. First, Nielsen Media Research reported that Fox News' overall prime-time lineup dropped 17% last month compared with a year ago (MSNBC grew 16% ...

Day Without Immigrants Roundup

An estimated one million illegal immigrants, supporters, and professional protestors showed up at rallies across the country yesterday protesting the fact that people who are in the country in violation of our laws are being subjected to unfair conditions, such as having to hide from immigration officials.* They took the day off work to demonstrate how vital they are ...

Consumer Confidence and Gasoline Prices

Well, it looks like the high gasoline prices are not upsetting consumers all that much. Consumers shrugged off higher gasoline prices in April and sent a widely watched barometer of consumer confidence to its highest level in almost four years, a private research group said Tuesday. Why? Probably because we have seen prices go even higher in the past and our ...

Responses to the Off Shoring/Outsourcing Post

There are a number of comments to my post on off shoring/outsourcing and most of them highlight the emotional type of response vs. a more thoughtout response. For example is this comment, It is sad when people get in the way of the economy. One should be excited about losing one’s job to a foreign work force because it offers so much ...