News
CNN: Money | Patent reform is finally on its way
Patent reform cleared another major hurdle on Thursday, when the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill that would fundamentally change the way the government treats intellectual property.
WSJ | New Orders Echo Uneven Recovery
Orders for long-lasting goods such as cars and washing machines increased in May after an April decline, as the factory sector—and the U.S. economy more broadly—continued its fitful recovery.
CNN: Money | The 11th hour stimulus push
Recovery Act money has dried up. The Fed's bond buying program will end this month. Economic growth remains anemic, and there are signs of further slowing.
Econ Comments
Washington Times | REAGAN: Reagan’s vision lives on in Texas
More than three decades ago, my father took ownership of the smoking ruins of the American economy armed with nothing more than four very basic principles: Keep taxes low, restrain government spending, minimize the amount of regulation on private enterprise and keep the money supply sound.
Washington Post | Can global economic policy be freed from its paralysis?
To be fair, some Keynesian economists argue that the problem is timidity, not impotence. Governments could do more; they just aren’t. They could spend more or cut taxes more; budget deficits — at least in the United States — don’t matter much at the moment. The Fed could have a QE3, buying more bonds to try to lower long-term interest rates.
WSJ | Money-Market Mayhem
Once again, regulators miss the systemic risk right in front of them.
RCM | Social Security Shutdown? Bring It On!
That's right. Tell Reid, Pelosi, Obama, Biden, and the whole gang of politicians claiming to represent the little guy that you will vote to increase the debt ceiling provided they join in passing a bill subjecting every dollar of federal entitlement spending to means testing.
Bloomberg | Why China’s Heading for a Hard Landing, Part 1: A. Gary Shilling
Few countries are more important to the global economy than China. But its reputation as an unstoppable giant -- as a country with an unending supply of cheap labor and limitless capacity for growth -- masks some serious and worsening economic problems.
Blogs
Café Hayek | Economic Growth Does Not Eliminate Scarcity
Resources will always be scarce. A thing is not scarce if and only if that thing is instantly and fully available without requiring of each and every consumer of that thing any choices or conscious actions directed at acquiring that thing. Some of the non-scarce things that are useful to human beings are breathable air and gravity.
Calculated Risk | Schedule for Week of June 26th
This will be busy week for economic data. The key releases will be the ISM manufacturing index on Friday, Case-Shiller house prices (April) on Tuesday, and auto sales on Friday.
Café Hayek | On the Finiteness of Resources
What is and isn’t a resource is determined by human ingenuity. Likewise, human ingenuity determines how much “utility” – satisfaction; gratification; pleasure; relief-of-felt-uneasiness (call it what you will) – can be gotten at any moment in time from any given unit of physical stuff.
Calculated Risk | Unofficial Problem Bank list at 1,001 Institutions and Transition Matrix
Note: this is an unofficial list of Problem Banks compiled only from public sources. This post includes an update to the transition matrix.
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Survey: Banks Easing Lending Standards, but Not for Consumers
Here’s a glimmer of good news for the economy. An annual survey by a key bank regulator showed some signs that the nation’s banks are easing underwriting standards after three years of broad tightening of lending terms.
Reports
BEA | Personal Income Rises in May
Personal income increased 0.3 percent in May, the same as in April. Wages and salaries, the largest component of personal income, increased 0.2 percent in May, after increasing 0.4 percent in April.
RCM: Wells Fargo | Weekly Economic & Financial Commentary
First-quarter GDP was revised up to 1.9 percent growth versus a previously reported 1.8 percent. On the negative side, both the GDP price deflator and the core PCE deflator were revised up.
