News
National Journal | Obama to Announce Fuel Efficiency Standards for Trucks
The standards, proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last year, would require reductions of between 7 and 20 percent from current fuel consumption and greenhouse gas-emission levels for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles manufactured between 2014 and 2018.
Market Watch | Downgrade won’t hurt consumers; the economy will
Watching a market that seems to be running away from everything but the safest investments, it’s hard to be a mutual-fund shareholder and not worry that you’re being left holding the bag.
National Journal | Fannie and Freddie Downgrades Obscure Real Trouble in Housing Market, Analysts Say
Standard & Poor's Monday downgrade of the credit ratings of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nation's largest mortgage lenders, shook the housing market and contributed to plummeting stocks, but, ultimately, analysts say the market dive may just be a sideshow to the housing market's biggest risk—the weak economy.
Politico | An excuse for slashing the safety net
What’s really happening is an attempt by both parties to justify slashing Social Security and Medicare. Republicans have long wanted to roll back the New Deal. What is relatively new is that a Democratic president is now dead-set on cutting these programs as well.
Econ Comments
National Journal | Obama Says Downgrade Should Prompt 'Renewed Sense of Urgency'
“My hope is that Friday’s news will give us a new sense of urgency,” the president said in a statement from the White House, promising to bring forward his own recommendations in the coming weeks on how a special congressional committee should proceed to further reduce the deficit.
Daily Caller | Texas has discovered the formula for economic growth
Amid huge corporate losses, massive job layoffs, government bailouts, unsustainable national deficit spending, state bonds rated as junk and discussions of states filing for bankruptcy, Texas stands out as a shining example of economic stability and growth.
Financial Times | Banks need a holiday away from Basel
Here’s an idea for dealing with the second leg of the global financial crisis before it’s too late – abolish Basel.
Washington Times | FEULNER: Fueling higher gas prices
Obama works overtime to keep oil underground.
WSJ | The Global Economy Is Still Growing
The recent sell-off in global equity markets is not justified by either economic or political fundamentals.
Washington Times | EDITORIAL: Markets to Obama: shut up
Even the prospective future budget “cuts” in the debt ceiling agreement still institutionalize $7 trillion in spending beyond the government’s means over the next ten years. This is the problem, not earthquakes.
Blogs
Minyanville | The 2 Positive Developments That Prove the US Isn't Headed Into Recession Yet
If we really were in recession we would already see it in hundreds of leading indicators, but the signs are simply not there.
Ludwig von Mises Institute | Why Is the Stock Market Plunging?
Investors the world over are still reeling from last Thursday's massive plunge in the US equity markets, in which the major indices all gave up more than 4 percent. It was the worst day for the US stock market since December 2008.
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Secondary Sources: Consumer Spending, China-U.S. Prices, Uncertainty and Recession
A roundup of economic news from around the Web.
Minyanville | Coal and Ethanol Are Not Alternative Energy Policy
The US needs to be a leader in producing electricity with renewable sources, not embrace red herrings like "clean coal" and corn ethanol.
