Free Republic

Last spring, you may remember, the French economist Thomas Piketty was all the rage in certain enlightened circles. His book "Capital" shot up to the No. 1 spot on bestseller lists, and many economists praised his statistics showing increased income and wealth inequality. Piketty argued that, absent a world war, returns to capital will exceed economic growth, inevitably producing growing inequality in the 21st century. There are problems with Piketty's -- or anyone else's -- statistics. Reliance on U.S. income tax returns overlooks the fact that tax cuts encourage people to realize income and misses non-taxable income such as welfare...

WASHINGTON - The bleak truth about the comatose Obama economy is not just that it's barely breathing, but that it's still not far from another recession. President Obama's campaign bid for another four years is loosely based on the preposterous claim the economy is "moving forward." In fact, it's been falling backward or at least treading water on a number of fronts, and economic forecasters say it will weaken further under his policies, if he is re-elected. Economists predict yet another weak jobs figure Friday that may push the unemployment rate up a bit, reminding undecided voters and even jittery...