News
Bloomberg | Risk of Worldwide Recession Has Increased to 50%, Krugman Says
Krugman, who last month said the risk of a global decline may be “a bit higher” than one-in-three, urged advanced economies to reverse fiscal belt-tightening and central banks to adopt a more expansionary monetary policy.
National Journal | Energy Absent From Jobs Speech
Obama didn’t utter the word “energy” at all in his roughly 30-minute speech, and the few bones he did throw to the sector – such as fleetingly mentioning biofuels and fuel-efficient cars -- didn’t do much to satisfy either side.
CNBC | Japan Second-Quarter GDP Revised Down to 0.5% Decline
The second-quarter data translated into an annualized contraction of 2.1 percent in real, price-adjusted terms, against an initial reading of a 1.3 percent contraction and economists' forecast for a 2.2 percent decline.
Econ Comments
Washington Times | RUANE: Road builders don’t want your stimulus
Last time feds boosted spending, states just cut back.
WSJ | The Euro Threat to Obama
An economic shock from abroad is the last thing that the U.S. economy now needs.
Washington Times | MURDOCK: Reaganomics trounces Obamanomics
In head-to-head match-up of economic records, it’s no contest.
Washington Times | VERSACE: Slow growth causes ripples worldwide
In recent weeks, a slew of analysts and economists have slashed the U.S. gross domestic product forecasts, and in my view we have yet to see earnings expectations catch up to those growth revisions. However there are signs that the emerging markets are not growing fast enough to carry a global recovery.
WSJ | A Union Goes Too Far
Violence by unionized longshoreman is noticed by the NLRB.
WSJ | The Solyndra Scandal
The FBI raids a beneficiary of federal loan guarantees.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | 20 Drilling Rigs in Jeopardy of Leaving Gulf Over Permit Delays, Report Warns
If the pace of Gulf oil drilling permit awards does not increase, as many as 20 drilling rigs could soon leave the Gulf, a major investment bank announced. BER Capital Investments called the current rate of permitting unsustainable in a report released Wednesday.
Calculated Risk | Mortgage Rates fall to Record Low
With 30 year mortgage rates now at record lows, mortgage refinance activity will probably pick up some more in September - but so far activity is lower than in '09 - and much lower than in 2003.
Café Hayek | Is Scarcity On Hold?
It’s certainly not clear that even a 10 or 12 percentage-point increase in the unemployment rate above the natural rate justifies the assumption of sufficiently widespread topsy-turviness – sufficient idleness of potentially productive resources – that policies meant to work only in a world of super-abundant resources are justified.
Marginal Revolution | A further note on the broken windows fallacy
The declines in housing prices in recent years really have taken their toll on AD so the wealth multiplier is not to be ignored. The notion that a stable and sustainable restoration of AD actually requires some increases in perceived wealth is one of the most underrated ideas among today’s Keynesians.
Café Hayek | The Source of the Problem Ain’t Inadequate Aggregate Demand
The problem isn’t that consumers aren’t spending; it’s that businesses aren’t investing.
Calculated Risk | Trade Deficit decreased sharply in July
Exports increased and imports decreased in July (seasonally adjusted). Exports are well above the pre-recession peak and up 15% compared to July 2010; imports are up about 13% compared to July 2010.
Atlantic: Megan McArdle | Words to Live By
The problem is not in our economics stars--it is in ourselves. As Robert Heinlein once wrote, "Man is not a rational animal--he is a rationalizing animal." We are constantly trying to make the universe make sense.
Café Hayek | Everything that’s wrong with macroeconomics
This quote from the New York Times article on the president’s speech, highlights everything wrong with macroeconomics as practiced in the public domain: "Preliminary analyses of the White House plan estimate that the tax cuts could create more than 50,000 jobs a month, a significant boost considering that employment climbed by 35,000 jobs, on average, in each of the last three months."
Econlog | Econlog EconTalk
EconTalk is an award-winning weekly talk show about economics in daily life. Featured guests include renowned economics professors, Nobel Prize winners, and exciting speakers on all kinds of topical matters related to economic thought.
Reports
AEI | Reforming Washington State Pensions
Defined benefit pension plans require that governments accurately anticipate future benefit costs and make regular contributions that will be sufficient to meet those costs. Around the country, citizens have become concerned regarding the solvency, cost, generosity and risk of public sector pension plans. Washington's pension plans are well funded by public sector standards. Nationwide, public pensions report unfunded liabilities of around $770 billion.
