Outside the Beltway

What’s behind the lack of business investment?

The Solyndra case is a classic example of what’s wrong with “government investment.”

Workers account for 80% of the Postal Service budget vs. 53% at UPS and 32% at FedEx.

The Western fetish for turning cheap, efficient food into expensive, inefficient fuel is threatening the food supply–as is the European superstition against genetically modified foods.

Environmentalists are upset by President Obama’s decision to abandon stringent new smog regulations, but he made the right decision.

The last time black unemployment was this high Barack Obama was fresh out of college. Now, he’s in the White House.

The connections between the White House and failed solar energy company Solyndra deepen.

Did World War II teach us anything about spending-as-stimulus? Not really.

Thank goodness, the July PCE numbers look pretty good compared to recent months. Lets hope it is something that will continue.

Obama’s economic policies are failing because he’s listening to conservatives – not small businesses.

Matthew Yglesias resurrects an argument that should have died off when Napster disappeared.

Another bad report from the Labor Department.

The failure of a solar energy firm in California is raising questions about a centerpiece of the Administration’s economic policy.

Tim Cook is succeeding Steve Jobs as head of the world’s biggest technology company. Does it matter that he’s gay?

Details of the President’s jobs plan are starting to leak out, and they’re not looking impressive.

Repeating the “destruction creates wealth” fallacy every time there’s a natural disaster doesn’t make it any less of a fallacy.

Updates to the Gross Domestic Product numbers for quarter two aren’t good, but they could have been worse. Still, the risk of recession is considerable.

Ben Bernanke didn’t offer many clues in his speech today, but one wonders if he really has any tricks left up his sleeve.

Before achieving astounding success, Steve Jobs had to experience disappointment and failure.

He’s been out of office for more than two years, but George W. Bush is still being blamed for the state of the economy.

The Postal Service believes it can save itself by making service worse. Something about that doesn’t compute.

Either a bunch of bloggers or one of the world’s smartest economists doesn’t understand economics.

The world is likely to get worse before it gets better.

Money isn’t the only benefit some receive for their work.

The signs are not good.

Rick Perry’s vision of capitalism doesn’t exactly comply with what Adam Smith had in mind.

Not only is the US outspending all our allies and competitors combined in real dollars on defense, we’re doing so in terms of GDP as well.

Michele Bachmann is promising $2.00 gas. Not surprisingly, she has no idea how to achieve this seemingly impossible goal.

Social Security is like a Ponzi scheme in one way but not in other, more important ones.

According to Paul Krugman, what the American economy needs is for a bunch of space aliens to invade us.

One of the super-rich says we should stop coddling the super-rich.

The IBM PC was introduced 30 years ago. Has its time passed?

Denying the Tea Party’s role in the downgrade of U.S. debt is to deny reality.

Although he didn’t get the words quite right yesterday, Mitt Romney was exactly right about corporations.

The Twitterverse and the Democratic National Committee are having a field day with Mitt Romney’s declaration that “Corporations are people, my friend.”

Today is Cost of Government Day, at least for those who can’t do math.

Rebecca J. Rosen explains why “Ridiculously Long CVS Receipts Will Remain Ridiculously Long.” And Mitch Hedberg ponders why they give you a receipt for a donut.