* Mike Konczal highlights a post by JW Mason on why recessions matter:

The real cost of unemployment is the unemployment itself. In part, this is about the loss of income – not the small reduction in aggregate lifetime income, but the large reduction in current income for those whose lose their jobs. The proportion of people without secure access to food, housing and other necessities is a much better measure of the economic costs of recession than the fall in GDP. But even this is the smaller part of the cost of unemployment. The most important thing about work, under capitalism, isn’t that it produces goods and provides an income, but that it is the carrier of self-worth, status and social power. For most of us, our work is our main bond with society at large; surveys agree with practical experience that losing a job is among the more important events in peoples’ lives.

Mike also has a good post on how a cramdown might have worked that’s worth reading.

* Tim Lee pointed me to this excellent Mike Masnick post on on how legacy industries shape the political environment to their benefit.

* Ed Glaeser has a characteristically sane post on how to stimulate the economy.

* Tyler Cowen constructively and open-mindedly counters some frustratingly glib analysis re: Ireland.

The Irish experiment remains an open book. In the meantime, it’s simply not true that the pre-emptive austerity advocates are committing some kind of economic malpractice. Three years out from now, let’s compare Ireland to the other PIIGS.

* Austin Frakt reinforces my sense that the CBO alternative baseline was very reasonable indeed with a brief look at health reform in Massachusetts:

So, there you have it. Costs are rising, in part due to increased ER use. But efforts to rein in costs with a reformed payment system is on hold. I’m not surprised by either of these. The forces pushing increased costs and maintenance of the status quo are strong. Things will have to get far worse before they get better.

* The Pew Research Center has a survey on how the recession has impacted daily life.

* Ezra Klein observes that David Brooks is comfortable with extending unemployment benefits and aid to states, provided the aid is accompanied by plans to achieve long-term fiscal balance. As far as I can tell, this is a view held by many conservatives, which is why I tend to think that a more modest fiscal stimulus bill would have attracted more Republican support. Politics is an iterative game, and the way that ARRA played out shaped expectations, and rhetoric, on both sides. Of course, this is all very speculative.

* Melena Ryzik of the New York Times has a story on an innovative collaborative space in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood. My sense is that the American economic comeback will be driven by the energy thrown off by places like 3rd Ward.