News
WSJ | Investors Move Onward and Upward
Dow Gains 6.4%, Posts Best First Quarter in 12 Years in Tumultuous Period
Washington Post | New Portuguese, Irish economic disclosures deepen European financial struggles
Portugal on Thursday disclosed new and larger budget deficits for last year, and Ireland said its banks need tens of billions of dollars in additional capital. The fresh round of bad news is likely to further shake confidence in Europe’s ability to resolve its lingering financial problems anytime soon.
Fiscal Times | TARP’s $24 Billion Profit: Some Demand a Recount
The Treasury Department is crowing about a new analysis that claims the government’s massive bank bailout in response to the 2008 financial crisis will actually end up turning a profit of nearly $24 billion.
Bloomberg | Manufacturing in U.S. Expands at Close to Seven-Year High
Manufacturing in the U.S. expanded in March at close to the fastest pace in almost seven years, reinforcing signs the industry will propel growth in the world’s largest economy.
Econ Comments
Cato Institute | The Green Energy Economy Reconsidered
How much will this particular dream cost?
Reason | "The big message of the financial crisis is that you want to become too big to fail"
George Mason economics professor Garett Jones on TARP, moral hazard, and the true costs of bailing out the financial sector.
NRO | The President’s New Energy Plan
What’s wrong with it? Just about everything.
Blogs
Washington TimesL: Water Cooler | Barack Obama: Losing $84 billion big success
Barack Obama has some 'splaining to do about taxpayers' profitable "investment" in General Motors. It turns out the president is imagining things.
Cato@Liberty | Energy Error Continued
When Barack Obama emerged as a serious contender for the presidency, he offered a core menu of curing everything by increased federal intervention in health care, education, and energy.
NRO: The Corner | Just Say No
This oral testimony (around 25 minutes) by Arnold Kling, a former Freddie Mac economist and now my colleague at the Mercatus Center, is a must-watch. Speaking before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, he urged Congress to “just say no,” to more government involvement in the housing market.
Cato@Liberty | Are Farm Subsidies Progressive?
An economist in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the Univeristy of Illinois posted an interesting entry on the FarmDocDaily blog yesterday, claiming that farm subsidies flowing to the biggest farms is a sign of progressivity.
AEI: The American | Obama’s Energy Blueprint: Same Silliness, Different Day
The president offers a list of ideas that fly in the face of fundamental realities.
AEI: The American | Is Startup America Bound to Fail?
The White House’s Startup America program’s diversity goals clash with its economic aim of boosting growth.
Reports
AEI | Uncertainty Mounts
Hope that the global economy has shaken off the dust of the 2007–2008 financial crisis is giving way to uncertainty as the Arab Spring and disaster in Japan threaten to reverse recovery momentum. Market behavior is signaling a slowdown in US growth, but there are few options left for policymakers as fiscal and monetary stimulus fade. Budget pressures will make further stimulus unlikely, leading to mounting uncertainty about the way forward.
