News
Market Watch | U.S. industrial production up 0.2% in June
Industrial production rose in June for the first time in two months but at a slender rate, and without any help from manufacturing, the Federal Reserve reported Friday.
Bloomberg | Weakening U.S. Consumer Income Expectations Point to Slowdown in Spending
Consumers are turning more pessimistic about their income prospects, an indication that household spending will grow at a slower pace compared with a year earlier.
CNBC | Type the Title You Want People to SeeFactory Activity Remains Weak in June
U.S. auto factories produced fewer goods in June than the previous month, and overall factory production was flat. It marked the third straight month of weak manufacturing output.
CNN: Money | U.S. losing grip on world's largest companies
The energy industry continues to enjoy a strong representation among the world's largest corporations. In 2005, six out of the top 25 biggest companies in the Global Fortune 500 were in the petroleum refining industry. The industry has only grown in stature: nine out of the top 25 on the 2011 list are in the energy sector.
Fox News | Business stockpiles rose for 17th month in May
Economists worry that businesses may have miscalculated consumer demand and could be stuck with unwanted inventories. That would trigger cutbacks in orders and cause manufacturing activity to slow.
Econ Comments
Washington Times | GHEI: Losing out on trade
Obama’s union pandering carries a price in jobs and economic growth.
WSJ | Cellulosic Ethanol and Unicorns
The EPA punishes oil refiners for not buying a product no one makes.
National Journal | Clean Energy Stifled by Debt Stalemate
“We need to deal with the budget. If you can’t deal with that, they can’t attract the investors they need to invest in these new technologies,” Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, told National Journal Daily as he left the meeting and headed to the session with Geithner.
Bloomberg | U.S. Stocks May Slide 24% as Recession Looms, GMI Macro’s Raoul Pal Says
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may fall as much as 24 percent and the euro might tumble to $1.20 if the U.S. economy slows further and Europe’s debt crisis widens, said Raoul Pal, the former GLG Partners Inc. fund manager currently writing the Global Macro Investor strategy sheet.
CNN: Money | The de-banking of America
Unpopular charges from big banks are driving customers into the arms of local banks and credit unions.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | $76 Trillion to Engineer a Green Economy?
A new report from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs demonstrates that the U.N. has no business meddling in economic or social issues.
Café Hayek | Aggregate Healthiness
The main determinant of GBH is called “aggregate healthiness” (AH). Aggregate healthiness changes for any number of reasons – for example, a change in the frequency of a person’s exercise or a change in a person’s diet. Higher AH, common sense tells us, causes higher GBH.
Heritage Foundation | One Year After Oil Spill Was Stopped, Drilling Permits Down Sharply
The Obama administration is approving deepwater drilling permits at a pace of just 1.7 per month — a dramatic drop that is jeopardizing thousands of jobs for struggling families in Louisiana and neighboring states.
Café Hayek | It’s the PSST, Stupid!
Ultimately it’s an empircal question – or, rather, a series of empirical questions. The most germane of these questions is this two-part one:
Heritage Foundation | Free Markets Are Good for China—and Us, Too
The Heritage Foundation’s China Global Investment Tracker has just been updated. Through June 30, it shows over $60 billion in Chinese investment in Latin America. This worries some people. They think that China is gaining economic benefits and cementing strategic ties in our backyard.
Café Hayek | Keynes vs. Reality-2
The usual way that Keynesians explain the post-war expansion despite the huge cut in government spending is to say, well of course the economy boomed, there was a lot of pent-up demand. What does that mean? There is always pent-up demand in the sense there is a stuff I wish I could have but can’t.
Reports
RCM: Wells Fargo | Consumers Still Lack Purchasing Power
Falling gasoline prices restrained retail sales in June. Overall sales rose 0.1 percent, with sales at gasoline stations plummeting 1.3 percent. Discounting helped boost sales elsewhere, particularly at department stores.
