News
Yahoo Finance | Wholesale prices up 1.6 pct. on steep rise in food
Wholesale prices rise 1.6 pct. due to biggest jump in food costs in more than 36 years
CNN Money | Building permits fall to all-time low
The housing market just can't seem to catch a break.
Fox | Japan crisis puts world financial markets on edge
Fears over the escalating nuclear crisis in Japan overtook financial markets around the globe Tuesday, pushing stocks and other investments lower. The Japanese stock market lost 10 percent of its value, and Wall Street dropped steeply before bouncing back.
Politico | World braces for Japan economic hit
The economic fallout on Japan and the rest of the world in the wake of last week’s devastating earthquake and tsunami is only beginning to emerge.
Econ Comments
CNN Money | Alan Greenspan: Stimulus hurt recovery
Massive government intervention to save the economy is to blame for the lagging recovery, Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Tuesday.
RCM | To Recover, Japan Must Ignore the Fallacies
The ongoing tragedy in Japan has unsurprisingly generated a great deal of commentary covering how - and if - the country will recover economically from difficulties that at least from the television screen, seem insurmountable. The happy news is that if history is any kind of indicator, Japan will rebound with great speed.
NRO | The Infrastructure Bank That Isn’t
John Kerry’s recycled slush-fund recipe.
Washington Times | OWENS: The upside of high oil prices
Market forces will generate alternatives - if the feds don’t intervene
Mercatus Center | Economists Look Beyond Housing Crisis to Propose Long-Term Reform
As the U.S. housing market struggles to right itself, many Americans may be hoping the worst is over. While real estate prices continue to fall in parts of the country, increases in the sales of existing homes have many breathing a sigh of relief. Even if stability returns in the short term, however, many are claiming that the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) that dominate the U.S. mortgage market need serious reform to avoid a repeat of the housing market crash.
Blogs
Fox Business | How Will Japan’s Economy Survive?
Even the most unreconstructed bull will tell you that what they see happening in Japan scares them, and it’s not just because of the unspeakable, horrific loss of human life and the destruction from the massive earthquake and tsunami, costs for which the Insurance Information Institute now estimates may likely rank as “the worst in the history of the world.”
Cato@Liberty | Are Mortgages Cheaper in the U.S.?
As Congress and the White House continue to debate the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, one of the oft heard concerns is that if we eliminate all the various mortgage subsidies in our system, then the cost of a mortgage will increase. There certainly is a basic logic to that concern. After all, why have subsidies if they don't lower the price of the subsidized good.
NRO: The Agenda | Do Funds Flowing to Schools and Local Governments Go to Poor People?
If I were creating a system designed to put more resources in the hands of poor people, would I (a) give money to poor people in the form of EITC benefits or direct wage subsidies or would I (b) hire large numbers of public workers? It’s not obvious that (b) is a smarter strategy than (a).
Forbes: The Capitalist | Obama’s ‘Stimulus’ Precluded A Robust Recovery
Whatever is tried by today’s economic charlatans, don’t dare doubt them! Hope springs eternal for the Keynesians and Obama-zombies.
EconLog | Regional Disasters: AS/AD vs. PSST
Suppose that a natural disaster occurs in one region. How does this affect the rest of the world?
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Economists React: If Worst Happens in Japan, All Bets Are Off
Economists and others weigh in on the economic effects of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.
