News
Bloomberg | Crisis Worse Than 2008 in Europe as Rescue Options Dim, Gordon Brown Says
European banks are “grossly under- capitalized” and the debt crisis is more serious for the region than the 2008 meltdown as governments are constrained by fiscal pressures.
CNN Money | Postal Service targets 252 mail facilities
Hundreds of mail-handling facilities have been named in a shutdown list released Thursday by the U.S. Postal Service as the agency tries to fight massive red ink.
Fox Business | And the Regulations Go On and On
According to a Small Business Administration study conducted by Lafayette College Professor Mark Crain, the cost of all federal regulations for companies with 500 or more employees $7,755 a year per employee. Woe be to you if you were a small business, the costs escalate to $10,585 per year per employee if you have fewer than 20 employees. That's a 364% difference.
Econ Comments
Washington Post | Is another banking crisis looming in Europe?
The ECB’s safety net can buy time, but it can’t solve the underlying problem: banks’ exposure on sovereign debt holdings.
WSJ | The Obama Promise: Then and Now
The president's own economic words are coming back to haunt him.
AEI | Policy Prescriptions for the Economy
Unfortunately, according to the latest indicators, the U.S. economy continues to disappoint and performs more poorly than original forecasts that were made by the more optimistic economists, who also tended to be supporters of the idea that our economy needs a big Keynesian stimulus.
Washington Times | MCGEE: Small business, big dreams
Allowing risk-takers to pursue their goals is key to economic renewal.
Washington Times | Why the Jobs Plan Falls Short
Instead of temporary tax breaks and more spending, we need permanent tax incentives, development of our energy resources, and entitlement reform.
RCM | "Ponzi Scheme" Doesn't Quite Cover the Evils of Social Security
The awful truth is that Social Security's beneficiaries, who have been misled into believing that they are merely collecting the funds owed to them by a pension plan, are in reality just another faction of welfare recipients.
Blogs
AEI: American | The Myth of Middle Class Stagnation
It’s time to correct a misconception regarding middle-class income.
Atlantic: McArdle | Why Solyndra Was Bad Stimulus
Good stimulus is not simply a matter of multipliers; it is also a matter of speed. And projects like infrastructure and underwriting simply take time. In an economic crisis, you're better off with a lower multiplier that moves quickly, than a higher multiplier which doesn't.
Café Hayek | The State Isn’t Us
Reasonable people can disagree over whether or not voluntary charity would be sufficient. It’s a mistake, however, to classify coerced ‘giving’ as “compassion,” and downright bizarre to accuse those of us who would rely more upon genuine compassion – evidenced by people giving from the goodness of their hearts rather than from a desire to avoid imprisonment – as endorsing a society without compassion.
Atlantic: McArdle | What Does Stimulus Do?
In general, stimulus is not a bad thing--but I think it's a limited thing. It's an aspirin tablet, not a cure for cancer.
ThinkMarkets | Financial Crisis from Lehman to Europe
The current financial crisis is a reverse of the 2008 disaster in key respects. This time, the culprits are certain governments, the problem is European and how badly it will affect the American financial system is a question.
Heritage Foundation | Solar Bankruptcies Mean It’s Time to End Energy Subsidies, Not Increase Them
If an energy source is not economically competitive, then the government should not artificially prop up these technologies and energy sources to create a market that wouldn’t exist without the subsidy.
Reports
Mercatus Center | New Ideas For Refinancing And Restructuring Mortgage Loans
A possible way to help jump start the economy and reduce mortgage defaults is to streamline mortgage refinancing. When a borrower refinances their mortgage, they may save $150 - $400 per month or $1,800 - $4,800 annually in mortgage interest.
Mercatus Center | Fixing the Watchdog: Legislative Proposals to Improve And Enhance the Securities and Exchange Commission
First, I will argue that clarifying the SEC’s legislative mandate to conduct economic analysis and a commitment of authority to economists on staff at the SEC are both vital to ensure that new rules work for investors rather than against them. Second, I will urge that the SEC be required to consider the impact of new rules on the state-based system of business incorporation.
