News
Market Watch | Get ready for a double-dip recession
Economists and strategists are increasingly predicting another recession. But they’re also getting prepared, with strategies that include a balanced approach and European and Asian ETF plays.
CNN: Money | Foreclosure settlement: Spat among the states
A deal to help victims of improper foreclosures has been slow going, in large part because of infighting among state attorneys general over giving banks a free pass from future lawsuits.
Fox News | Financial turmoil intensifies home buyers' anxiety
Part of the problem is that many people can't buy even if they want to. More than 23 percent of homeowners owe more on their homes than they're worth. An additional 25 percent have less than 20 percent equity in their homes, according to Capital Economics.
Washington Times | After earthquake, homeowners find insurance policies lack coverage
The 5.8 magnitude quake - the largest in this region in more than a century - served as a rattling awakening for many homeowners in the Washington area, who assumed they were covered.
Econ Comments
Fox Business | Congress: Economic Illiterates
Politicians mess with the economy. They create tens of thousands of pages of burdensome regulations every year. They pass ""stimulus"" bills that they promise will reduce unemployment. They pass a health care law that's more than a thousand pages, and give "waivers" to politically connected unions and corporations.
WSJ | Business Regulation vs. Growth: The View from Middle America
It has become clear that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has been a real deterrent to companies that would like to go public.
RCM | Getting Real On Immigration
Congress shows no signs of passing legislation to fix our convoluted immigration laws. Indeed, despite much discussion on Capitol Hill and much public debate, Congress has passed no broad revision of immigration law since the 1990s.
WSJ | Fairness Doctrine, R.I.P.
A good deed from the FCC.
Cato Institute | Squaring the U.S., China, Taiwan Triangle
Washington should help Taipei defend itself. Peace is in the interest of Taiwan, China and the U.S. Washington should maintain a good relationship with China. And continuing arms sales to Taipei may be the best means to preserve stability and peace across the Taiwan Strait.
Blogs
Atlantic: Megan McArdle | Welfare Reform: The Downside
Since the social service system was manifestly not good at distinguishing those who were capable of working, and those who weren't, before reform changed the incentives, we are stuck with a choice between false positives and false negatives.
Heritage Foundation | Jones Act Oil Waiver Symptom of Regulatory Overload
The Obama Administration’s decision to waive provisions of the Jones Act last month when releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is typical of this Administration’s disregard for the principle of equal protection under the law when it becomes too inconvenient.
Café Hayek | Not a Novel Question, but One Worth Asking Again and Again
If human choices and actions in private settings are so heavily influenced by animal spirits that the economy is often significantly damaged by their musings and muckings around, aren’t human choices and actions in political settings at least equally influenced by these same animal spirits – and, hence, isn’t political activity at least equally distorted by these unpredictable poltergeists?
Reports
RCM: Wells Fargo | Are We Headed for Another Global Recession?
Financial markets have encountered significant volatility recently due to a cocktail of negative news that includes Standard and Poor’s downgrade of U.S. government debt, the continuing saga of the European sovereign debt crisis and fears of a double-dip recession in the United States.
CBO | Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output from April 2011 Through June 2011
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) contains provisions that are intended to boost economic activity and employment in the United States. Section 1512(e) of the law requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to comment on reports filed by recipients of ARRA funding that detail the number of jobs funded through their activities.
