News
Market Watch | China’s trade surplus widens sharply
China’s trade surplus for April widened at a pace far exceeding analysts’ expectations, as export growth surged while imports grew by a smaller margin, according to customs’ data released Tuesday.
Fiscal Times | Double Dip? Home Values Fall for the 57th Month
Home prices have fallen for 57 consecutive months, and Zillow is forecasting that price declines will continue for the rest of 2011. Home values are falling by about 1 percent per month so far this year, says Stan Humphries, economist with Zillow. “We now believe a bottom will come in 2012, at the earliest,” he says. He predicts home prices will drop by as much as 9 percent due to stubbornly high unemployment and large quantities of foreclosures.
Fox News | China urges US to lift controls on hi-tech exports
China is using high level meetings to urge the US to allow more technology exports into the
Fiscal Times | Credit Card Defaults Heading to 20-yr Low
After writing off billions in uncollectible credit card debt over the past few years, banks have started to hand out new cards again. But they are doing so slowly and only lending to those with higher credit scores.
WSJ | Greece Says Audit Will Show €60 Billion Need
Greece is projected to need around €27 billion in new assistance next year and another €32 billion in 2013.
Econ Comments
Washington Post | The myth of American exceptionalism
The phrase has an odd history. As Princeton history professor Sean Wilentz reminds me, American exceptionalism once applied to the hostility that the American worker — virtually alone in the industrialized world — had toward socialism. Now, though, it is infused with religious meaning, which makes it impervious to analysis. Once you say God likes something, who can quibble?
Bloomberg | Cost of U.S. Imported Goods Rose More Than Forecast
The 2.2 percent increase in the import-price index followed a revised 2.6 percent gain in March, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. Economists projected a 1.8 percent increase, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. Prices excluding fuel advanced 0.6 percent.
Bloomberg | Rear-View Mirror Can’t Forecast 2011 Economy: Caroline Baum
There are more reasons to think 2011 won’t repeat 2010’s start-stop pattern.
Blogs
Reason Foundation | Fannie Mae Drains Another $8.5 Billion from Taxpayers
Here is a breakdown of the bailout payment requests from Fannie Mae since 2008:
The Economist: Free exchange | Is housing holding back recovery?
Falling prices may delay a recovery in construction activity, but even during the housing boom years the most residential investment ever contributed to the real GDP growth rate was 1.04 percentage points, and most quarters the contribution was well below that. Housing simply isn't going to lift GDP growth from 1.7% to 5%.
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Small-Business Pessimism Deepens
Small-business owner pessimism worsened in April for a second consecutive month, even though current sales performance was the best in 40 months, according to data released Tuesday
Calculated Risk | NY Fed Q1 Report on Household Debt and Credit
New York Fed's Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit Shows Signs of Healing in Consumer Credit Markets Since Last Quarter
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Euro Zone’s Fundamental Flaws Must Be Addressed, Says Roubini Economist
Fundamental flaws within the euro zone must be addressed or else the euro could “end up in smithereens,” said a managing director at Roubini Global Economics Tuesday.
Reports
NBER | Dissecting the Effect of Credit Supply on Trade
We estimate the elasticity of exports to credit using matched customs and firm-level bank credit data from Peru. To account for non-credit determinants of exports, we compare changes in exports of the same product and to the same destination by firms borrowing from banks differentially affected by capital flow reversals during the 2008 financial crisis.
