12.29.2011

3 things:

1. Calendars are arbitrary.

2. You should check out this blog: http://ampersandseven.blogspot.com/
It's the project of an NU Alum and former student theater castmate of mine.
There is a number for every day in the year.

3: I discovered this a few months ago: it's from a post I wrote about the economy in June 2003. Make of it what you will:

...I'm concerned that the deficits incurred by the [Bush tax] cuts will have terrible consequences for the economy in the long run.

I think this business of trying to stimulate job creation by cutting the taxes of investors is nonsense when it could be done more directly by putting money in the hands of those with the least disposable income, which would immediately increase demand for goods and services. Even though consumer spending has remained fairly steady, in the long run our economic health will depend not on the value of the Dow, but on our capacity for consumption.

The deficit will likely lead to cuts in government spending, which is not, prima facie, a bad thing except that the federal government has taken on certain fiscal obligations toward individuals and the states. The country relies on federal money for education, law enforcement and social welfare programs. These obligations won't disappear as easily as the funding for them, which will leave state and local governments, reeling from deficits of their own, to try to tackle the burden of these obligations. Many states may have to raise taxes to handle these responsibilities or else abdicate them altogether. If it is the intention of the Bush administration to reduce the size of the government, it should be done through program cuts, not by shackling the government to debts.