News
National Journal | Mica to Unveil New Highway Bill
House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica, R-Fla., on Thursday will introduce a six-year, $230 billion surface-transportation authorization blueprint for highways, bridges, and other transportation projects.
Fox News | U.S. Timber Exports to China Have Lessened the Economic Blow for Some
Even as the housing market continues to sputter and home building remains stuck at levels one-third of the boom times of 2006, exports to China have softened the blow.
National Journal | Virginia Dems Introduce Offshore-Drilling Measure
The bill, according to a press release, builds on a House-passed drilling measure by directing half of any leasing revenues to be paid to Virginia to support land and water conservation projects as well as clean-energy development, transportation, and infrastructure improvement projects in the state.
Market Watch | Service sector growth slows in June
Some executives see ‘some softening’ in U.S. economy.
Bloomberg | Oil Rises in New York on Signs U.S. Crude Stockpiles Shrank a Fifth Week
Oil surged to a three-week high in New York on signs that the U.S. economic recovery is whittling down crude inventories in the world’s largest user of the commodity.
CNN: Money | Housing prices: No rebound in sight
Housing prices are likely to keep falling the rest of this year, and probably won't show much improvement next year either, according to a survey of economists.
WSJ | 401(k) Law Suppresses Saving for Retirement
Under the law, companies are allowed to automatically enroll workers in their 401(k) plans, rather than require employees to sign up on their own. The measure was intended to encourage more people to bulk up their retirement nest eggs—a key goal in a country where millions of people aren't saving enough.
Business Insider | The End Of The Soft Patch In The Global Economy?
Global equity markets rallied in the final days of the second quarter as investors became increasingly confident that a default by Greece will not occur in the near term.
Econ Comments
Financial Times | American power requires economic sacrifice
Looking into the future, the pendulum seems almost certain to swing back. Even if the US were to maintain military spending at a constant share of its own GDP, the nation’s shrinking weight in the world economy would cause its share of global spending to decline to 39 per cent by 2015.
Project Syndicate | Technology and Inequality
Until now, the relentless march of technology and globalization has played out hugely in favor of high-skilled labor, helping to fuel record-high levels of income and wealth inequality around the world. Will the endgame be renewed class warfare, with populist governments coming to power, stretching the limits of income redistribution, and asserting greater state control over economic life?
Politico | Senators: Ethanol deal possible
The three senators — along with ethanol subsidy foe Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) — started negotiations when 73 senators voted June 16 for an amendment from Feinstein and Coburn immediately repealing a 45 cent per gallon blender tax credit and a 54 cent per gallon tariff on imported ethanol set to expire at the end of the year.
Blogs
Atlantic: Megan McArdle | Why Pensions are Underfunded
Because people don't understand what these obligations cost:
Political Calculations | The Permanence of Poverty
If you are in poverty today, or fall into it tomorrow, will you be doomed to be in poverty for the rest of your life?
Econlog | Competitive Government
The theory and some of the practical issues involved in this are discussed in the widely-unread Unchecked and Unbalanced. There, I argue against the notion that there are scale economies at work in large governmental units.
Forbes | The Cost Of Government Regulation
That is essentially the Obama administration’s message to businesses. This is an administration that seems to believe that $1 million spent on pollution control will create more than 1.5 net jobs. Who comes up with such numbers?
Calculated Risk | Reis: Apartment Vacancy Rate falls to 6% in Q2
Reis reported that the apartment vacancy rate (82 markets) fell to 6.0% in Q2 from 6.2% in Q1. The vacancy rate was at 7.8% in Q2 2010 and peaked at 8.0% at the end of 2009.
Reports
RCM: Wells Fargo | ISM Non-Manufacturing Soft, Watch Out for Order Backlogs
The headline ISM non-manufacturing reading was a bit weaker than expected, though the employment component edged higher and the inventories component came down slightly. Order backlogs fell below 50.
Heritage Foundation | Federal Highway Program: How Opting Out Would Help States
Growing dissatisfaction with federal transportation policy and government’s mismanagement of the highway trust fund have encouraged many in Congress and in state governments to seek ways to overhaul the system or to extract themselves from it.
