Hiring Finished 2014 Strong in December

Good jobs report today.  An article on it can be found here.  Best year for hiring in many years.  There are still concerns over labor force figures and earnings.

Lazear of "Scoring" of Legislation

Ed Lazear has an op-ed in the WSJ today concerning Congress' requiring the CBO to "score" legislation for economic growth.  To this point, the CBO has not done that on the grounds it wants to maintain an unbiased position. But, as Lazear points out, to not consider the effects on growth is to bias things in favor of passing legislation.  He offers several reasons why scoring is a good idea, and how it can be done while maintaining objectivity.

Hypocrisy at Harvard?

An interesting article in yesterday's NY Times.  Some of the economists at Harvard helped design the Affordable Care Act. One result has been an increase in costs of their insurance to Harvard faculty, and many don't like it.  According to some health care economists, Harvard still has a very generous package.  The article quotes a Classics professor, who said the changes are, "...deplorable, deeply regressive, a sign of the corporatization of the university."  Much of the unhappiness is in the humanities faculties.  It is interesting when people who want expanded coverage for the country complain so bitterly when it generates a little higher costs for themselves.