TEA PARTY ECONOMIST

The TEA PARTY ECONOMIST Ron Paul's original staff economist, Dr. Gary North! Saturday, January 19, 2012

WEEK IN REVIEW: The top stories of the week Social Security Tax Hike Hits American Workers. Surprise! The mainstream media are filled with stories about the surprise experienced by American workers this month. Social Security’s FICA tax will rise by two percentage points this year. Someone making $50,000 will pay an extra $1,000. It turns out that workers forgot to budget for this. They did not know that they would be pushed... READ MORE Federal Reserve Bank President Says, “We Must Inflate 24 x 7.” Gary North’s Reality Check Charles Evans is the president of the privately owned Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. On January 14, he gave a speech in Hong Kong. As with all speeches by Federal Reserve Bank officers, except for Bernanke the Boring, he was careful to say that his views were only his own. “Before... READ MORE Republican-Controlled House Votes a $50 Billion Bailout as Part of the Debt Ceiling Fight The Republicans in the House have come up with a new strategy to force Obama to accept a debt ceiling. In their principled stand against increasing the national debt, they voted to send $50 billion of borrowed money to state governments that would otherwise have suffered deficits. The justification? Hurricane Sandy. Better to borrow more... READ MORE Big Banks Are in High Cotton: Profits Soar Goldman Sachs’ profits are up. J. P. Morgan Chase’s profits are up. How are your profits? Not so good? That’s because you’re not an ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs. Therefore, you’re not the Secretary of the Treasury. You’re not Hank Paulson. You’re not Robert Rubin. You’re not even Jon Corzine. So, no U.S. Senate seat for... READ MORE The Best American Cities for Economic Growth So, you want to live in a place that is likely to grow. You want to own a home there. You want to own 20 more in 20 years. Where should you move to? If you want a large city, you should move here. If you want a smaller city, you should move here. Are... READ MORE