TNR Senior Editor Noam Scheiber thinks that Elizabeth Warren is confirmable if nominated and thinks that Obama wins by pushing this button.
Scheiber thinks the Dems will hold behind her for the most part — and even with a defection or two, Grassley, Snowe, Collins and perhaps other Republican Senators have much to gain by supporting Elizabeth Warren as the head of a new consumer protection agency.
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The Fiscal Times has an interesting clip in an opinion piece titled: “Prime Numbers: Deficit Cuts A Priority for Americans“:
A 2003 Federal Reserve study showed that each percentage point rise in the ratio of federal debt to GDP lifted long-term interest rates by four basis points, or 0.04 percent. Applying that relationship to the CBO’s projections implies that borrowing costs ten years from now would be 1.4 percentage points higher than they would be at the 2009 debt-to-GDP level.
While the Fiscal Times tends to focus on the country’s budget deficit, the nation’s “jobs deficit” and “infrastructure deficit” are far more deleterious at this moment in time to the nation’s future opportunities.
The article, written by James C. Cooper, makes clear that borrowing a decade from now may be 1.4% higher than rates that can be locked in today. America needs smart investment now — not reckless investment with low returns to the economy. The key is to design an investment strategy that drives the economy towards high-wage job generation and innovation.
The US economy can lock in remarkably low rates for the next 30 years on monies that it borrows in the current economic climate.
America may forfeit its future to China, which is making huge comparative investments in its infrastructure and innovation base, if the US doesn’t rewire itself for growth, for innovation, and job creation.
Just cutting deficits is not an economic strategy.
— Steve Clemons
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