In the last day or so I graded one set of midterms and wrote another which I gave today. (You know what I'm doing this weekend.) That leaves less time for blogging. Thus, we have these quick hits from the past day's news and blogs. I'll post more on some of this later.
Stumbling and Mumbling asks what the blogosphere is really all about and decides:
I think we should regard it as a new form of 17th century coffee-house, a venue where men met on equal terms to exchange news and ideas.
Perhaps so. And the real beauty of it is that it knows no geographical boundaries. The author of Stumbling and Mumbling is British. I came to small town Illinois from small town Minnesota. You could be sitting anywhere right now reading this. Yet here we are.
Next up, Brad DeLong points us to a Financial Times article on productivity. Angry Bear has more, and a chart. You could also check out macroblog. I'll have more on this later.
On the budget front, this headline lays it out there, "Greenspan Says Federal Budget Deficits Are 'Unsustainable'." Here's a taste of what you'll read in the article,
"When you begin to do the arithmetic of what the rising debt level implied by the deficits tells you, and you add interest costs to that ever-rising debt, at ever-higher interest rates, the system becomes fiscally destabilizing," he told lawmakers. "Unless we do something to ameliorate it in a very significant manner," he added, "we will be in a state of stagnation."
White House officials played down Mr. Greenspan's remarks, noting that he had placed top priority on reduced government spending and that Mr. Bush had vowed to reduce the budget deficit by half by 2009.
"The president does have a substantial deficit-reduction package," said Trent Duffy, a White House spokesman. "His budget is a continuation of that policy, and he looks forward to working with Congress in cutting that spending down. Likewise, the president agrees that the long-term budget is the issue, which is why he's trying to lead a national discussion and reform movement to save and strengthen Social Security."
But then,
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush said on Thursday he would focus for now on the financial problems facing Social Security, signaling a shift in tactics amid a slide in support for his private account plan.
There was so much more happening Thursday, like a thought provoking WSJ article by Greg Ip.
Job figures come out today. Lately, 150,000 has been the number to beat. That has to rise. 200,000 would be so much better. I think it will be close, but these things are hard to predict.
PGL at Angry Bear made this post on Social Security, but my response will have to wait.
So much for the roundup. Extended analysis on Friday.
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