These past few months have been rough in New Brunswick, New Jersey and the North East in general. First, there was the snow, possibly the most profuse in more than a century. Dr. David A. Robinson of Rutgers University [1] says it all:
“Unfortunately, snow records are not lengthy or complete at most locations around the state, but I am confident in stating that most locations established new monthly snowfall records for any winter month in at least the past 130 years.” [2]
Then there was the rain. The …

Draine on Society

There are two forms of government economic policy: monetary and fiscal. Monetary policy is conducted by a central bank, or the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States, while fiscal policy is conducted by the Department of the Treasury and the Legislative Branch. This article will examine both forms and evaluate their relative effectiveness in promoting economic activity and growth in times of recession.

I just got off the phone with a career counselor from Syracuse University, my alma mater.  I am now greatly saddened.  It dawns on me how insignificant and undesirable I am as a candidate for employment.

With every daunting question she broke down my enthusiasm until after half an hour, it dissipated, leaving only a bitter taste of regret and tobacco.
I told her how many resumes I had sent out, how many emails I’d written, how many job sites I perused.  I told her my hopes of being employed at an …

As Of Yet Untitled

This week, I decided to explore a topic with which I am not very familiar, but which I hope to learn more about in the course of our discussions. My topic will be currency. The continued economic forecasting by leading libertarian thinkers including Lew Rockwell, economist Peter Schiff, and Texas Congressman Ron Paul are deeply concerned with currency, and warrant further investigation.

The Popular Capitalist View
With the recent announcement of the retirement of Justice Souter from the Supreme Court and the new and awkward position of Lieutenant Governor for the State of New Jersey, it seems a good time to consider issues of representation and balance of powers. These had taken shape in my own mind over two years ago as a proposed Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, but there are clear implications for New Jersey that will also, hopefully, materialize as a New Jersey Constitutional Amendment.

America’s Most Powerful Unions

When a new or unfamiliar political view is presented, it is inevitable that people will start to question where it fits in the political landscape. Indeed, I have been asked that question even without mentioning my political views. Perhaps it is a sign of the times, but now a new acquaintance is asked whether they are a Democrat or a Republican, a liberal or a conservative, with as much regularity as one was once asked what sign one was or what one did for a living. …

AIG and CDS

The popular fury at the executive bonuses paid out by American International Group (AIG) is well-placed. Despite the fact that these bonuses represent only one tenth of one percent of the total bailout money received by AIG, they are still a source of rage and frustration to the average taxpayer.

The past week has been one of the fiscally craziest ever. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped to its lowest point since many of us were in middle school, the U.S. government took steps towards buying up 40 percent of Citigroup’s stock, Starbucks started selling instant coffee for cheap prices and President Barack Obama signed into law a stimulus package that would pump $787 billion of taxpayer money into the economy.

By Mike Stuzynski
Editor in Chief
As read at the Demarest Coffeehouse on 2/26/09
With an increase in air, water, and light pollution since the industrial revolution, transparency in many forms is in shrinking supply.  It is only natural for such problems to carry over to the social sphere from the environmental, and so we have come to accept a lack of transparency in our University, our city, our state, right on up to infinity.  Most are willing to concede that this is undesirable, yet few are motivated to do anything serious …

By Alex Draine

There are a lot of financial buzzwords floating around these days. From Washington to New York, numbers and terms are being thrown about without much thought. It has become clear that many people do not fully understand the subtle and not-so-subtle nuances of economic policy.