News
CNN Money | How the economy is really doing
These five indicators do a good job of showing what's really going on -- and what it feels like -- out there.
Fox News | Productivity up in 4th quarter as labor costs drop
Productivity grew in the final quarter of 2010 at the fastest pace in nine months even as economists expect a significant slowdown in productivity growth in 2011.
CNN Money | Home prices: The double-dip is near
On Tuesday, we found out that home prices were near their post-bust lows. Two days later the government reported that January saw a double-digit dip in the number of new homes sold.
Fox News | Retailers report solid gains in February
Shoppers braved February's chill to hand retailers surprisingly strong sales gains, extending the momentum from a strong holiday season and providing evidence of a strengthening economic recovery.
Politico | GOP strikes at housing programs
Congressional Republicans aiming to dismantle President Barack Obama’s agenda have set their sights on an easy target: housing programs that even Democrats, gearing up to fight the cuts, concede have been mismanaged.
The Economist | The 2011 oil shock
More of a threat to the world economy than investors seem to think.
Econ Comments
WSJ | Time to Get Serious About American Oil
Why is Washington blocking oil exploration in states like Alaska and Louisiana when the Middle East is such a powder keg?
NRO | Time to Kill HAMP
It’s a rip-off, perpetuated by the very same people who have been ripping us off for years.
Minyanville | Housing Market, Community Banks Will Drag the Economy
The overall level of home sales and construction has remained low and the community banks are not fit to increase lending to homebuilders and potential home buyers
Blogs
EconLog | Ken Rogoff and Others
As usual, Mark Thoma has interesting links for today.
EconLog | Keynesian Politics and the Minimum Wage
It would be nice to see some Keynesians follow in their predecessors' footsteps.
Heritage Foundation: Morning Bell | How Obama Is Making Gas Prices Higher
Instead of increasing domestic oil supplies, the Obama Administration has cut them at every opportunity, and Americans are now suffering because of those choices.
CSM: The Adam Smith Institute Blog | Setback for British 'free schools'
Strict building regulations may hinder the formation of a competitive market of new schools.
The Economist: Free Exchange | Global house prices
Clicks and mortar
Mercatus Center: Neighborhood Effects | Buy Local, Potomac Edition
What I can’t understand is why the buy local movement seems to have such moral force among otherwise completely moral people. To me, the notion that I should only deal with those who are similar to me—those who happen to share my culture or geography—seems downright ugly.
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Secondary Sources: Rate Risks, Inflation, Banks in Danger
A roundup of economic news from around the Web.
EconLog | Maladaptation to Higher Productivity
In an advanced economy, the new patterns of production that must be created are highly complex, and the skill sets required may take a long time to develop. It may not be possible to shift the same workers out of excess-labor sectors into expanding sectors. Instead, the transition may involve workers with obsolete human capital exiting the labor force, with new vintages of labor gradually filling the expanding sectors.
Reports
Heritage Foundation | Federal Transit Programs: Spending More and More for Less and Less
The federal transit program and the transit systems that it subsidizes are among the most wasteful enterprises in the American economy, and reforming them should be among Congress’s top priorities.
