News
Fiscal Times | Record Numbers Crack Open Retirement Nest Eggs
In the wake of the Great Recession, a record number of Americans are tapping their 401(k) retirement plans, according to a new report by Aon Hewitt, a consulting firm. Others are cashing out all together when they lose their jobs. Many more are taking loans from their accounts. Experts warn that employees weren’t saving enough to begin with and that the steady outflow of funds is putting the retirement nest eggs of millions of people at risk.
CNN: Money | Market outlook: More turbulence ahead
It's been a rough year for stocks. After getting off to a solid start, markets have spent the better part of the last couple of months digesting a spate of mushy economic data.
NYT | Midwest Manufacturing Picked Up Steam in June
The Institute for Supply Management, Chicago, said on Thursday that its business barometer rose to 61.1 after slowing abruptly to 56.6 in May. The gain defied economists’ expectations for a decline to 54.
CNN: Money | Economy to grow at 4%? Really? How?
Dallas Federal Reserve president Richard Fisher (not known for excessive optimism) even said in a speech earlier this week that 4% growth in gross domestic product in the last six months of the year would not be "unimaginable."
Fox News | 10 Ways to Save the Economy: Obama Assails Business Community's 'Complaining' on Regulations
“Keep in mind,” President Obama cautioned reporters halfway through his hour-long news conference Wednesday morning, “that the business community is always complaining about regulations. When unemployment is at 3 percent and they're making record profits, they're going to still complain about regulations because, frankly, they want to be able to do whatever they think is going to maximize their profits.”
National Journal | Alaska Pushes Drilling Plan for Offshore, Area Near ANWR
The Alaska governor’s office, which has long griped that the Obama administration has blocked oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, is aggressively pushing a plan to drill off a pristine strip of state-owned coast threading between the federally protected lands and waters.
Washington Times | Retailers to fight new debit card fees
Fed’s decision ‘caved’ to banks, merchants say.
Econ Comments
Washington Post | The GOP’s ideal America
The ideological certainties of the conservative movement often contrast with the conduct of conservative politicians. Activists may regard the New Deal as soft socialism, but conservative politicians do not seek the end of Social Security or unemployment insurance.
Politico | Quick FTA passage needed for small businesses
On July 1, the European Union-South Korea free trade agreement goes into effect. Then, on Aug. 15, the Colombia-Canada free trade agreement will take effect — leaving U.S. small businesses at a competitive disadvantage in the international marketplace.
Market Watch | China manufacturing growth slows further
China’s manufacturing activity decelerated to levels of only marginal growth amid a generally weak export outlook, though there was some good news in signs of easing inflation, according to rival surveys released Friday.
Bloomberg | Crude Oil Falls First Time in Four Days on China, U.S. Economic Slowdown
Oil declined, trimming the biggest weekly gain in almost three months, as signs of slowing manufacturing growth in China and the U.S., the world’s biggest energy users, stoked speculation fuel demand may falter.
Financial Times | Working out what China wants
We know what the west wants from a resurgent China. We have a pretty good sense of what China doesn’t want from the west. What’s missing from this story of global geopolitical upheaval is a clear idea of what China wants from its rise to great power status.
RCM | Moving Beyond the Unwisdom Of "Too Big To Fail"
Lost in the European debt shuffle has been a much larger conversation that needs to take place. Mainstream economics has given some cursory thought and half-hearted lip service to rethinking the wisdom of "too big to fail" (TBTF).
Blogs
Reason Foundatin | What Ails the Economy Today and What to Do About Fixing Tomorrow
The Federal Reserve has downgraded its outlook on GDP growth for the next year and the New York Yankees are recognizing the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs have a monumentally better bullpen than they could ever wish to assemble.
Daily Capitalist | Is the US Already in a New Recession?
Aside from the theme propounded on this site that the “Great Recession” never really ended, if we use mainstream terminology, then the recession ended two years ago. It may just be that another one has already begun. Here are some exhibits:
Financial TimesL A-List | Gridlock in Washington is hurting the US economy
Democracy is inherently a messy process, but it is still unsettling for foreign holders of US debt to see the Congress openly discussing whether there might be advantages in forcing the Treasury to “prioritise” its future payments so that the flow of interest obligations can be maintained.
Reason Foundatin | Jump, Geithner, Jump!
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has all but said it's over. On the one hand, "considering leaving the administration after President Barack Obama reaches an agreement with Congress to raise the national debt limit" sounds pretty much like I quit.
Calafia Beach Pundit | The failure of Keynesian pump-priming
I've showed this before, but it's worthwhile repeating. The chart above makes a bold and striking statement: the more the government spends, in relation to the size of the economy, the higher the rate of unemployment; and the less the government spends, the lower the rate of unemployment.
