It only takes a 26-page document.
Document MIL-C-44072C, or “Military Specification Cookies, Oatmeal; And Brownies; Chocolate Covered,” is approved for use by the Department of Defense as a component of operational rations. Thus it outlines specifications for all the ingredients — nuts, walnuts, shelled; whole eggs, liquid or frozen; pregelatinized starch; etc. — as well as preparation details.
From Bloomberg:
The bond market is saying that it’s safer to lend to Warren Buffett than Barack Obama.
Two-year notes sold by the billionaire’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in February yield 3.5 basis points less than Treasuries of similar maturity, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Procter & Gamble Co., Johnson & Johnson and Lowe’s Cos. debt also traded at lower yields in recent weeks, a situation former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. chief fixed-income strategist Jack Malvey calls an “exceedingly rare” event in the history of the bond market.
The $2.59 trillion of Treasury Department sales since the start of 2009 have created a glut as the budget deficit swelled to a post-World War II-record 10 percent of the economy and raised concerns whether the U.S. deserves its AAA credit rating. The increased borrowing may also undermine the first-quarter rally in Treasuries as the economy improves….
While Treasuries backed by the full faith and credit of the government typically yield less than corporate debt, the relationship has flipped as Moody’s Investors Service predicts the U.S. will spend more on debt service as a percentage of revenue this year than any other top-rated country except the U.K. America will use about 7 percent of taxes for debt payments in 2010 and almost 11 percent in 2013, moving “substantially” closer to losing its AAA rating, Moody’s said last week.
Read Greg Mankiw’s comments here.
Taken from this military powerpoint. To quote Alex Tabarrok, “On the positive side they are aware the problem is complex.”
Regarding the healthcare reform debate, Greg Mankiw sums up David Brooks’s NY Times article:
“Should Americans embrace a more robust social safety net at the cost of much higher marginal tax rates, reduced work incentives, and a smaller economic pie?”
Via Marginal Revolution regarding the deficit as a percent of GDP in Belgium and Italy vs. the US:
“When water regularly overflows from your toilet, you want the toilet fixed, whether or not the water is doing harm.”
If the Obama tax plan goes through, Microsoft intends to move some of its jobs out of this country. This seems like it’s good for America, doesn’t it?
Link taken from Matt Perman’s blog.
I found this 1975 Ronald Reagan quote about the 151 taxes in a loaf of bread via Matt Perman’s blog:
“If people need any more concrete explanation of this, start with the staff of life, a loaf of bread. The simplest thing; the poorest man must have it. Well, there are 151 taxes now in the price of a loaf of bread — it accounts for more than half the cost of a loaf of bread. It begins with the first tax, on the farmer that raised the wheat. Any simpleton can understand that if that farmer cannot get enough money for his wheat, to pay the property tax on his farm, he can’t be a farmer. He loses his farm. And so it is with the fellow who pays a driver’s license and a gasoline tax to drive the truckload of wheat to the mill, the miller who has to pay everything from social security tax, business license, everything else. He has to make his living over and above those costs. So they all wind up in that loaf of bread. Now an egg isn’t far behind and nobody had to make that. There’s a hundred taxes in an egg by the time it gets to market and you know the chicken didn’t put them there!”
This post from Greg Mankiw is insightful. Politicians should consider focusing on optimal allocation of resources rather than emotions.
This makes me mad:
