News
Market Watch | New single-family home sales fall 1% in June
Sales of new single-family homes fell 1.0% in June as purchases in the Northeast dropped to the lowest level since the government began tracking the data in 1973.
National Journal | Insiders: Revenue Sharing and Offshore Drilling Reform Inextricably Linked
Adding a lucrative financial incentive for coastal states that allow energy production off their shores would greatly enhance prospects of congressional passage of a bill to strengthen rules on offshore-drilling safety, National Journal’s Energy and Environment Insiders say. Still, Insiders are pessimistic that Congress would pass any such plan.
Market Watch | U.S. durable-goods orders fall 2.1% in June
Weaker orders for airplanes and automobiles translated into a steeper-than-forecast 2.1% decline in durable-goods orders in June, the Commerce Department estimated Wednesday.
Bloomberg | Growth Slowed in 8 of 12 U.S. Regions: Fed
The Federal Reserve said the economy grew at a slower pace in more parts of the country since the beginning of June as shoppers restrained spending and factory production eased.
Econ Comments
AEI: American | Government Housing Policy: The Sine Qua Non of the Financial Crisis
How did the financial system accumulate an unprecedented number of risky mortgages?
CNN: Money | The American Dream slips even further out of reach
Add stagnant wages to a list of woes hitting American families struggling for a life that was better than their parents had.
National Journal | Moody’s Economist Says Ratings Downgrade Wouldn't Be 'End of the World'
Asked whether it was the state of the economy or Congress’s inability to come together on a deal that was really threatening the credit rating, Zandi said on the Early Show: “The latter. This is just a political decision, right? We are a very large nation. We’re a very prosperous nation. We can pay our bills.”
Minyanville | How the US Economy Would Benefit From a Real Alternative Energy Policy
So far, the United States has positioned itself to be behind history on what could be a very promising industry for a stumbling economy.
Source | Soros's Regulatory Hedge
Another victim of Dodd-Frank.
NYT | How a Debt Downgrade May Affect Consumers
This is not yet one of those stuff-your-money-in-a-mattress moments.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Welfare Spending Under the Boehner Plan
Bob Greenstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities claims that the Boehner budget is a form of “class warfare.” He says that “if enacted, it would produce the greatest increase in poverty and hardship produced by any law in modern U.S. history.”
Reports
NBER | How Do Mortgage Subsidies Affect Home Ownership? Evidence from the Mid-century GI Bills
The sharpest increase in U.S. home ownership over the last century occurred between 1940 and 1960, associated primarily with a decrease in the age at first ownership. To shed light on the contribution of several coincident large-scale government interventions in housing finance, I examine veterans' home loan benefits provided under the postwar GI Bills.
RCM: Wells Fargo | Consumer Confidence Posts Surprising Rise in July
Contrary to other sentiment indicators recently, the Conference Board’s index of consumer confidence edged up in July. The number of people expecting their situation to improve in six months rose.
