Okay so the good news we heard last week mas muffled by the disappointing but expected jobless report. Unemployment remains high at 9.8% and probably won't get down to 5 or 6% for anoter 3 - 5 years and that might be if we're lucky.
Today, however, the Dems and GOP compromised on a tax cut policy that continues the Bush tax cuts as well as the jobless benefits. Both are huge in repairing the economy and stimulating demand. Social Security taxes were also reduced for a year. The bad of this, in my opinion is the lack of progressivity, but that was unlikely to change due to the Republicans hard stance on that issue. So income inequality will probably continue to worsen in the coming years. But overall it is good to see the government is still on board with stimulating the economy. Large deficits really aren't something to worry about at the moment.
The best news out of this agreement is the extension of the jobless benefits. The worst is the tax break for the super-rich who certainly don't need it.
A Ph.D. student's perspective on Catholic Social Teaching and economics.
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