ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES

Comeback America by David M. Walker www.comebackamericathebook.com

2010 Graduates: How to Become a Millionaire

In the May 25, 2010 Florida Times-Union blog entry, " Small-government Rubio said it may be time for federal takeover of cleanup ops ", David Hunt highlights the hypocrisy inherent in many advocates of free markets, smaller government and lower taxes. When insufficiently regulated markets create socially undesirable outcomes, such as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, those harmed by the market failure scream that the government should do more. You cannot have it both ways. It is easy to support free markets and smaller government when one fails to consider the negative consequences. Rational economists argue those consequences always should be considered. According to David Hunt's blog: During a campaign stop in Jacksonville, former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio said he's been disturbed by the lack of technology to harness the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Although Rubio presents himself as a small-government candidate for U.S. Senate, he said it may be

" The Meaning of Wealth Translated Around the World " Robert Frank Wall Street Journal May 24, 2010

In the May 23, 2010 article " Fiscal crises threaten Europe's generous benefits ," Associated Press writer Michael Weissenstein reports: LONDON (AP) -- Six weeks of vacation a year. Retirement at 60. Thousands of euros for having a baby. A good university education for less than the cost of a laptop. The system known as the European welfare state was built after World War II as the keystone of a shared prosperity meant to prevent future conflict. Generous lifelong benefits have since become a defining feature of modern Europe. Now the welfare state -- cherished by many Europeans as an alternative to what they see as dog-eat-dog American capitalism -- is coming under its most serious threat in decades: Europe's sovereign debt crisis. Deep budget cuts are under way across Europe. Although the first round is focused mostly on government payrolls -- the least politically explosive target -- welfare benefits are looking increasingly vulnerable. "The current welfare st

David M. Walker served as the comptroller general of the United States and head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) from 1998 to 2008. In these positions, he was considered to be the chief accountant of the U.S: federal government. In the May 21, 2010 Jacksonville.com blog post, " Former U.S. Comptroller General (an accountability guy) on the tea party ," David Hunt provides David Walker's reply to a question about the tax tea party movement in the United States. According to Walker: "On one hand, I share a lot of their concerns. On the other, I think we have to realize that the answers to our problems are not in the extremes. They're not in the far left or far right. There's a sensible center. While you want to change direction, you don't want to polarize Washington into further extremes. I understand public discontent, but I want it to be informed and constructive - not destructive - and not cause an increase in ideological divide. ... Ther

In the May 11, 2010 MainStreet article " How Rich Are You? ," Jeanine Skowronski reports: You're richer than you think. At least according to Poke, a London-based creative company that specializes in interactive media. Their Web site, The Global Rich List generates a wealth ranking for its users based on their annual income. For example, if you make $52,000 a year (the median American household income for 2009), you are the 58,252,719 richest person in the world (or in the top 0.97 percentile of all moneymakers). Someone who makes half of that ($26,000 a year) is still in the top 10%, ranked 569,942,529 on the Global Rich List. These calculations are based on figures from the World Bank Development Research Group. To calculate an individual's position on the list, Poke assumes that the world's total population is 6 billion and the average worldwide annual income is $5,000. The site uses your wealth ranking to invite you to share your wealth with others. It told m

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest Employment Situation news release ( http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf ) was issued today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Highlights are below. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 290,000 in April, the unemployment rate edged up to 9.9 percent, and the labor force increased sharply. Job gains occurred in manufacturing, professional and business services, health care, and leisure and hospitality. Federal government employment also rose, reflecting continued hiring of temporary workers for Census 2010. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- News releases archives: http://www.bls.gov/schedule/archives/all_nr.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------