News
FT | States improve on S&P’s federal outlook
Less than a month after Standard & Poor’s warned the chances were growing that the US could lose its triple A credit rating, the agency gave...
WSJ | Renewal of Pacts Eases Fear for Munis
The municipal-bond market appears to be surmounting one of its most urgent challenges of the year as banks renew billions of dollars worth of expiring credit agreements with state and local governments, avoiding a costly scramble to refinance.
FT | Muni debt set for $29bn refinancing
US states, cities and other local entities are gearing up to refinance a record $29bn of expiring bank guarantees this quarter...
Econ Comments
Fiscal Times | Automatic Budget Cuts Have Spotty Record
One problem was that the law's targets were pegged to federal deficits, which lawmakers don't fully control because government spending and revenue are strongly influenced by the economy.
Barron's | The Argument for Budget Brinksmanship
A money manager contends that, by putting debt-reduction pressure on the president, Republicans would ensure meaningful reform.
Fiscal Times | 5 Experts Explain How to Solve the Budget Deficit
If current policies remain in place, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the U.S. budget deficit for 2011 will be close to $1.5 trillion, or 9.8 percent of GDP.
Blogs
Marginal Revolution | Selling Government Assets
The first set of assets proposed to go on the auction block are mostly empty or little used warehouses, office buildings, barracks and other properties, quite a few of which are now scheduled to be demolished.
NRO: The Corner | Not Paying Our Bills is Just a Symptom of How Much Debt We Have Not a Reason to Borrow More Money
Reinhart and Rogoff go on to explain that it is possible that interest rates stay low for a while even in a time of high debt, for a variety of reasons, but at some point they turn, and when they do it generally happens fast.
Reports
CBO | Monthly Budget Review
The federal government incurred a budget deficit of $871 billion in the first seven months of fiscal year 2011, CBO estimates.
