The decision on Wednesday by Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court that clears the way for the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to extend its power over the national sovereignty of the Eurozone’s member states was celebrated as a victory to save the euro.

Keynesian policies allegedly designed (and sold to the American people) to stimulate the economy are actually having the perverse effect of stimulating government spending and putting off the inevitable day of reckoning when interest rates inevitably begin to rise.

The unintended consequence of low interest rates is the transfer of wealth from savers to the government.

A study by two University of Colorado professors released last month predicts that President Obama will win just 218 Electoral College votes in November, far short of the 270 that he needs for reelection. Said political science professor Kenneth Bickers: “Based on our forecasting model, it becomes clear that the president is in electoral trouble.”

On the other hand, Intrade, an Internet wagering site located in Ireland, has consistently shown President Obama leading Republican candidate Romney in the upcoming elections. Intrade allows individuals to invest in future outcomes — in that sense it is a “futures” market — and if they are correct, they profit from their predictions. So it’s more than a telephone poll, but a serious financial bet on an outcome.

Increasing gun sales are driving revenues and profits at Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger & Company, thanks to Obama, "preppers" — and even "zombies."

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney promised August 30 to create millions of jobs — 12 million of them, in fact — if he is elected president in November. He said: "What America needs is jobs. Lots of jobs.... I am running for president to help create a better future … a future where everyone who wants a job can find a job.…"

His five-point plan consists of attaining energy independence by the year 2020, strengthening the educational system, forging new trade agreements with foreign countries, cutting the deficit with the ultimate goal of balancing the budget, helping small businesses, and repealing ObamaCare. With the possible exception of “helping small businesses” — whatever that means — nothing in his plan addresses the issue of job creation.

A union-owned bank agreed to loan Scranton, Pennsylvania, $6 million on condition that all city union members be paid in full, and that all of Scranton's tax revenues be sent directly to the bank to pay off the loan.

The hyperbole surrounding the White House's announcement yesterday of much higher fuel economy mandates is in sharp contrast to what consumers really want.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to give his annual Jackson Hole speech on August 31 while the world waits in anticipation. They are likely to be disappointed.

In past years, the invitation-only event hosted by the Kansas City Fed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, has been an opportunity for Bernanke to suggest future Fed policy actions. In 2010 he said that a second round of stimulus — called QE2 for Quantitative Easing Round Two — was likely, and in November the Fed began its purchase of another $600 billion of long-term debt securities.

Since then little has changed: Unemployment remains significantly above eight percent, the housing market remains largely moribund, gross domestic product remains barely positive, and consumer confidence is waning.

In his final column as Public Editor for the New York Times, Arthur S. Brisbane concluded that the paper's progressive world view "bleeds through" every department of the paper. But it’s certainly not because of any conspiracy, says Brisbane, just a meeting of like minds in promoting a worldview that editors and writers share: urbane, worldly, and flexible. 

In his article in London’s Financial Times, professor Jeffrey Sachs laments the inevitable shrinkage in America’s federal government, regardless of which political party takes the White House in November. Calling the national elections “a full-throated ideological brawl … the small-government agenda has already prevailed. No matter who is elected on November 6, dangerous cuts in public goods and services are already in train.”