News
WSJ | Fed Sees Recovery Lagging
Bernanke Says Growth Slower Than Expected, Monetary Policy Isn't 'Panacea'
WSJ | CEO Tells Fed Chief New Rules Hurt Banks
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended U.S. efforts to overhaul regulation of financial markets after the financial crisis Tuesday, rejecting suggestions from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. chief Jamie Dimon and other bankers that regulators have gone too far.
National Journal | EPA Tells State More Study Needed on Oil-Sands Pipeline
The Environmental Protection Agency formally rejected the State Department’s Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline Tuesday, calling the level of analysis “insufficient.”
CNN: Money | It might be time to talk double-dip recession
In normal times, the default setting for the U.S. economy is 'expand.' But these aren't normal times.
Fox News | China ends wind power subsidy program
The U.S. on Tuesday called for China to disclose all its government subsidy programs as Beijing backed down in a trade dispute between the world's two leading economies over clean energy technology.
National Journal | Majority of Americans Disapprove of Obama’s Handling of the Economy, Budget Deficit
The poll, conducted from May 12-15, showed an increase in approval of the president’s handling of terrorism, the situation in Afghanistan, and foreign affairs since the previous poll was conducted in late March.
Econ Comments
WSJ | The Economy Is Worse Than You Think
Expect more bad news until someone enacts a plan to bring deficits under control without raising taxes.
Financial Times | The road to recovery gets steeper
What is one to make of recent economic data, particularly in the advanced countries? I sthe world economy slowing ? If so, should policy do anything about it and if so what might the alternatives be?
Bloomberg | How Social Security Prolonged the Depression: Echoes
Social Security began its life as a tax increase, not a spending program. In 1937, the federal government started collecting a 2 percent payroll tax, but benefits didn't start flowing until 1940. For more than three years, Social Security siphoned money from consumers' pockets into government coffers while offering almost nothing in return.
WSJ | Time to Make Professors Teach
My new study suggests a simple way to cut college tuition in half.
CNN: Money | It's time to focus on free trade
Business leaders aren't worried that Washington is running out of tools to fix the economy. They say the White House stubbornly insists on reaching for the wrong toolbox.
RCM | Austan Goolsbee Escapes Economic Failure
Austan Goolsbee is only the latest prominent White House economist to pull the ejection lever and parachute to safety. But like the others, his reputation has already crashed and burned.
CNN: Money | Don't celebrate the rise in consumer credit just yet
New data shows consumer credit is rising fast, but that's not necessarily a good sign that spending is back. We're just taking out more loans.
Blogs
Forbes | The Growing Challenge of Measuring Growth
The richer economies get, the more output and employment shift out of goods production (manufacturing, agriculture, and mining) and into services. Thus, manufacturing’s share of GDP fell by almost half between 1979 and 2009 – from 21 percent to 11 percent. Meanwhile, the share of private service industries rose by 25 percent over the same period – from 55 percent to 69 percent.
NRO: The Corner | How Free Is Your State?
This year, the freest states were New Hampshire, South Dakota, Idaho, Indiana, and Nevada; the least free states were New York, New Jersey, California, Hawaii, and Massachusetts. There’s also a fiscal-policy freedom ranking, a regulatory freedom ranking, a personal freedom ranking, and an economic freedom ranking. In every single one of them, New York, New Jersey, and California came in at the bottom.
Mercatus: Neighborhood Effects | Economic Freedom, Economic Growth, and Freedom in the 50 States
Mercatus released a new edition of William Ruger and Jason Sorens’s Freedom in the 50 States. To my knowledge, it is the most-comprehensive analysis of freedom at the state level, covering both economic freedoms and personal freedoms.
Cato @Liberty | Trade Agreements Promote U.S. Manufacturing Exports
Do trade agreements promote trade? The answer appears to be yes. In a new Cato Free Trade Bulletin released today, I examine the record of trade agreements the United States has signed with 14 other nations during the past decade.
Daily Capitalist | Too Big To Fail Banks Will Kill All Reforms
You may wipe your brow and say to yourself,“Well,we avoided the Big One this time,let’s get back to normal.” After all,we were threatened with the specter of the Great Depression early into the crisis,at least according to Ben Bernanke, and you might think that we dodged that bullet. You would be wrong.
