News
National Journal | McConnell Fashions Escape for Republicans on Debt Ceiling
Complicated and elegant, in its own way, the plan would give Obama the power to raise the debt ceiling without congressional approval.
WSJ | Italy to Beef Up Austerity
ROME—Italy's economy minister Wednesday said the country's four-year fiscal plan will be made more stringent.
CNN Money | Big thinkers tackle the debt crisis
President Barack Obama's offer to reform federal tax policy would get a resounding thumbs-up from a number of the economic veterans who spoke at the 2011 Aspen Ideas Festival earlier this month.
Econ Comments
WSJ | Debt-Limit Harakiri
If Mr. Obama insists on a tax increase, and Republicans won't vote for one, then what's the alternative to Mr. McConnell's maneuver?
WSJ | Budget Solution: Squeeze the Middle
...even if the plan that emerges shields the middle class—one rough definition of which is households between the lowest 40% and top 10% in income, or $33,500 to $163,200—they will surely be affected by spending or tax changes in some future round of deficit-cutting, budget analysts and economists agree.
Blogs
The Economist: Free Exchange | My bills or yours?
Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Italy don't get to make those choices for themselves. They have big debt loads and poor growth prospects, and there's absolutely nothing they can do to make dealing with the former easier by addressing the latter.
Heritage Foundation | America Treading Down Road to Serfdom with Big Spending
No country is immune to the dangers lurking from expanding government.
American: Enterprise Blog | Would Social Security Benefits Be Cut If the Debt Limit Is Not Increased?
First, recall that, unlike other federal programs, Social Security has its own dedicated tax that it doesn’t need to share. By itself, the payroll tax would cover around 93 percent of all Social Security payments.
