The View from Right Field

Illinois Had a Budget Stalemate, Too: With Democratic Supermajorities*

Last October, Governor J.B. Pritzker was campaigning for re-election on his stewardship of Illinois and its budget.  Things were so good he was sending out checks from the state, just in time for the election, to people who had paid property taxes. 

But, of course, things were not that good.  Illinois’s budget was balanced not because Governor Pritzker was doing a good job, but because the state was getting so much Covid relief money from the federal government.  It should have been obvious last fall that the money from the federal government was ending.  And, with the stock market going down last year, it should have been obvious, to anybody who was paying attention, that Illinois would get a lot less money from taxes on capital gains this year.  With stock prices down, the gains would be less if people sold, and many people would decide to wait for the market to go back up before selling, which would mean there were fewer gains to tax in 2022.

How to Know Economists Have a Sense of Humor – or of the Absurd

Actually, I first heard the answer to the question, “How do you know economists have a sense of humor?” from the EconTalker, Russ Roberts.  I don’t know if he came up with it, but since I heard it first from him, I will credit him with it (at least purposes of this post).^1,2

But I am going to change the question a little, though the answer is still the same.  Here is my phrasing: “How do you know economists have a sense of the absurd?”

The answer to both ways of phrasing the question is the same: They use decimal points. 

Ukraine and the Failure of Sanctions – One More Time

I’m sorry to keep harping on the failure of sanctions, but it’s important because they are not working, or at least not doing enough, in Russia’s war against Ukraine.  As I mentioned here, there were two articles in the Financial Times last week about how sanctions against Russia are being violated and how they are aren’t getting the job done. 

There was another article in yesterday’s FT¹, this one about the “ghost trade” in dual-use goods.  Dual-use goods are products that can be used for civilian purposes and for military or intelligence purposes.  The ghost trade is when goods are ordered by a company in one country and never show up there.  What is happening, among other things, is that the dual-use goods are ordered by companies in places such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Georgia and are shipped, from EU countries, through Russia to get to their destination,  But the goods are never arriving.  They are disappearing.

The Feel-Good Purpose of Sanctions

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post asking: “Can Even More Sanctions Beat Russia?”  My answer was no.  More evidence to support this view came last week in both the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal. 

The FT had two articles.  One was about a Russian spy network that is buying machine tools and microchips Russia needs to maintain its military-industrial complex.¹  While people from Washington are traveling to western Europe to talk about tightening enforcement of sanctions, the point is the Russians are still able to get around them.

Marco Rubio Wants to Prohibit the Use of SNAP Money to Buy Pop and Dessert

Senator Marco Rubio (R, Fla.) wrote an Op-ed in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, “No More Subsidies for Junk Food,” proposing a ban on the use of SNAP monies, i.e., food stamps, to buy soda (called “pop” where I’m from) and prepared desserts.¹  Senator Rubio claims this would promote healthier diets, reduce “food deserts” in low-income neighborhoods by encouraging stores to carry healthy foods, and reduce long-run medical expenses, a veritable policy three-for-one.

Of course, all this is assuming his idea would work.  But if SNAP funds can’t be used for pop and desserts, people could easily use SNAP money for other things and save their cash for what they really want.  Or they could buy SNAP-approved products and then trade them for pop and desserts.  They could even sell their excess SNAP money for cash, at a discount, of course, so they could buy the banned items.

Whose Drones Are Attacking the Kremlin and Why Can’t Russia Stop Them?

In a week of big news (for example, Matt Mervis made his major league debut with the Cubs yesterday), one of the more bizarre stories was the “attack” on the Kremlin by two drones.  The Russians blamed Ukraine, accusing them of trying to assassinate Vladimir Putin.

Whether is what actually happened or whether it was a Russian “false flag” operation or something else is completely unclear.¹  In any case, what I don’t understand is why the Russians would accuse Ukraine of flying these drones to Moscow.  If I were Vladimir Putin, I would be embarrassed if the Ukrainians could fly two drones all the way to the Kremlin.  Instead of trumpeting it to the world, I would be trying to hide the fact.  What does this say about Russia’s air defenses if two slow moving drones can get all the way to Moscow and crash into the Kremlin? 

The ComEd Four: Yet Another Political Corruption Conviction in Illinois.

Yesterday, the so-called ComEd Four were convicted.  The four included a former state legislator and long-time lobbyist who was a big friend of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, a couple of ComEd¹ executives, including a former CEO, and a lobbyist who worked for ComEd for 30 years.  The charges were basically bribery by ComEd.  Here is a description from the Chicago Tribune:

“The indictment alleged the four conspired to funnel $1.3 million in payments to ghost ‘subcontractors,’ largely through Doherty’s company, who were actually Madigan’s cronies.

The utility also hired a clouted law firm run by political operative Victor Reyes, distributed numerous college internships within Madigan’s 13th Ward fiefdom, and blatantly backed former McPier chief Juan Ochoa, the friend of a Madigan ally, for an $80,000-a-year seat on the utility’s board of directors, the indictment alleged.