News
Market Watch | U.S. consumer confidence declines in May
Consumer confidence fell in May as Americans grew slightly more pessimistic about future job prospects and business conditions, according to a closely followed survey.
Financial Times | EU warns US to speed up bank reform
The European Union's top financial regulater has warned the Obama administration that it must speed up and toughen its new banking rules in order to prevent American banks from having unfair advantages over their European counterparts.
Market Watch | China’s manufacturing growth slows further
China’s manufacturing activity expanded in May at its weakest pace in three quarters, as the economy faced headwinds of high inflation and government efforts to rein in prices, according to rival surveys of companies released Wednesday.
Bloomberg | Crude Oil Falls From Near Three-Week High After U.S. Employment Report
Oil declined from near the highest in three weeks on concern demand in the U.S. may falter following a report showing that U.S. companies added fewer jobs than forecast last month.
Politico | Economy shadows President Obama's 2012 campaign
A series of troubling signs for the U.S. economy threatens to dash hopes that 2011 would be a year of robust recover and that could prove troublesome for President Barack Obama's reelection chances.
Washington Times | Today’s airline fuel bills aren’t peanuts
Soaring oil prices now 35 percent of U.S. companies’ operating costs.
Econ Comments
National Journal | Geithner Defends Auto Bailout in Op-Ed
Two years after bankruptcy filing, Detroit's unemployment has fallen by one-third.
Washington Times | SHAPIRO: Pro-union policies stifle innovation, recovery
Obama labor agenda risks chasing employers away from the U.S.
Financial Times | Emerging economies are ready to lead
Emerging markets have vast experience in policy making that can benefit the global economy.
Source | The Keystone pipeline: A bridge to economics growth
The Keystone pipeline would secure vital resources form a trusted ally. It would also stimulate the economy, increase government revenue and create 13,000 high wage construction jobs over the next two years and 340,000 jobs over the next five years in manufacturing and service industries that would benefit form the pipeline's construction.
Source | Rein in rising gas prices
Skyrocketing gas prices are stretching the budgets of American families like never before. A new study shows that middle-class families are spending as much on gas as they are for health care and nearly as much as they are on groceries. In my home state of Michigan, gas prices hit a record high of $4.22 earlier this month — one of the highest in the nation
Washington Times | RAHN: Free markets flower as war memories fade
New nations of former Yugoslavia discover keys to economic stability.
Blogs
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Share of Population on Food Stamps Grows in Most States
The share of residents turning to food stamps has risen in nearly every state nationwide in the past year even as unemployment has moderated.
AEI: American | The Missing Link: Growth
As the budget fight unfolds, keep in mind this chart from Bret Swanson about the various levels of tax revenues from differing growth rates:
WSJ: MarketBeat | ISM’s Svengali-Like Hold on the Stock Market
The manufacturing sector is a small and shrinking gear in the US economic engine, and yet the ISM manufacturing index seems to have an outsized influence on the US stock market.
Daily Capitalist | Poor People Control 61% of World’s Wealth
In capitalistic countries wealth is created,not stolen. Entrepreneurs have an idea, have a relatively free political infrastructure, have access to capital,are willing to take risks,and create a business. They either crash and burn or succeed. If they succeed they create jobs and wealth. They also create wealth for the entrepreneur. Congratulations. Where else do jobs come from?
ThinkMarkets | Why Dodd-Frank is Dud-Blarney
It is a shame that Christopher Dodd did not become a lobbyist earlier, before he teamed up with Barney Frank to sponsor the Dodd-Frank Act. Mr. Dodd first helped set into motion a fast-expanding web of obscure bureaucratic dicta for almost all financial activity, then took a lucrative job as Hollywood lobbyist.
Econlog | Why do Depressions Occur?
I am well aware that the current economic slump includes more than just housing. Let us focus on just one example of an industry that is undergoing a severe contractionary adjustment: the legal industry. Many large firms have undertaken massive layoffs, and new law school graduates are having a horrible time finding jobs. How can we explain this?
Reports
NBER | This Time Is the Same: Using Bank Performance in 1998 to Explain Bank Performance During the Recent Financial Crisis
We investigate whether a bank’s performance during the 1998 crisis, which was viewed at the time as the most dramatic crisis since the Great Depression, predicts its performance during the recent financial crisis. One hypothesis is that a bank that has an especially poor experience in a crisis learns and adapts, so that it performs better in the next crisis.
Heritage Foundation | American Energy Freedom: The Basis for Economic Recovery
When studying American history, in particular times of rapid economic growth, one often finds that poets, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, speak of fuels that drive industrial revolutions. Such was the case in the mid-to-late 1800s in America. Then, as now, prosperity was directly linked to the efficient use of energy. The more energy-efficient a society became as a whole, the greater the wealth that each individual member of that society enjoyed.
