News
Bloomberg | Retail Sales in U.S. Unexpectedly Stagnate
The unchanged reading followed a 0.3 percent gain for July that was smaller than previously estimated, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 83 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was a 0.2 percent rise.
WSJ | How to Accurately Measure The Poor Remains Elusive
America's poverty rate clicked up again last year and now stands at its highest level since the early 1990s. But what exactly does it mean to live in poverty in one of the richest countries on earth?
Bloomberg | Crude Oil Drops From Six-Week High on Concern Economic Recovery to Falter
Futures fell as much as 1.9 percent after technical indicators signaled gains of more than 3 percent in the past two days may have been excessive.
CNN: Money | Government aid keeps millions out of poverty
Unemployment insurance helped keep 3.2 million Americans out of poverty in 2010, according to new statistics released Tuesday. Without this vital lifeline, which lasts up to 99 weeks, these jobless folks would have joined the roughly 46.2 million people now considered in poverty.
Econ Comments
Washington Times | CASS: When to regulate and when not to?
Regulators especially should steer clear of intruding into parts of the economy that are working well, most obviously the high-technology sector.
WSJ | Growth and Inequality: 2010
The latest news on spreading the wealth.
AEI: American | From Ponzi to Perry: The Truth about Social Security
In both Social Security and a Ponzi scheme, early participants receive payments, not from interest on their own investments, but directly from inflows from later participants.
AEI | Housing Finance Reform: Should There be a Government Guarantee?
Although the government's overall debt position is not an issue that is usually part of the debate on housing finance policy, the fiscal position of the United States has deteriorated so seriously in recent years that the question whether to increase the national debt in order to support the U.S. housing market has now become highly germane.
Investors.com | Who's Accountable For Failure?
The data are in, and they aren't pretty: The economy continues to fall apart, with seemingly little immediate hope for a turnaround. If you were looking for a referendum on the failures of Obamanomics, this is it.
Forbes | Infrastructure Follies: Railroads, Cleantech And Crony Capitalism
It was more fitting than President Barack Obama could have imagined when he invoked the memory of Abraham Lincoln’s backing of the first transcontinental railroad in his bid to boost his latest infrastructure spending stimulus.
Blogs
Minyanville | The Key to Economic Growth
America needs cheap energy, less regulation, a new tax code, and debt reduction -- all while addressing spending and entitlements.
Cato @ Liberty | Dramatic Increase in Poverty Rate: One Small Step for Obama, One Giant Step for the So-Called War on Poverty
I fully agree that the president’s policies definitely have made—and will continue to make—matters worse. But the fundamental problem is 40-plus years of a misguided “War on Poverty” by the federal government.
Political Calculations | The Distribution of Income for 2010: Households
In 2010, the median household income in the United States was $49,445, which was down from the $49,777 that had been recorded in 2009.
Marginal Revolution | New vs. old Keynesian macroeconomics
interpret the old Keynesians as holding an attitude something like: “We know from the Great Depression that an AD problem can be very bad for a very long time. Maybe there are mysteries in how that happened but we need to double down on traditional Keynes, Hicks, and IS-LM.”
Daily Capitalist | Some Of Us Aren’t Getting Poorer
The Census Bureau announced that for the most part, we are getting poorer since the Crash. That shouldn’t be news, right? The point being is that because of these business cycles we keep experiencing, we are going backwards.
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Vital Signs: Small Business and Skills Shortage
The number of small businesses seeing a skills shortage has crept up this year. In August, 33% of small businesses reported having few or no qualified applicants for job openings.
Café Hayek | More scientism from the defenders of stimulus
Now Mr Zandi calculates the new Obama plan would create 1.9m jobs in the next year and add two percentage points to gross domestic product. The Republican alternative – slamming on the brakes – would have the opposite result.
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Manufacturing Drove Cities’ Growth in 2010
Last year was a good one for cities that make things.
Reports
Cato Institute | Can We Determine the Optimal Size of Government?
The massive spending programs and new regulations adopted by many countries around the world in response to the economic crisis of 2008 have drawn renewed attention to the role of government in the economy.
Heritage Foundation | Heritage Foundation Understanding Poverty in the United States: Surprising Facts About America's Poor
Understanding poverty in America requires looking behind these numbers at the actual living conditions of the individuals the government deems to be poor.
RCM: Wells Fargo | RCM: Wells Fargo Import Prices Fall in August
Import prices fell by 0.4 percent in August, pulled down by declines in prices of petroleum imports. Excluding fuels, import prices rose 0.2 percent. Export prices rose 0.5 percent due to increased food and beverage prices.
Census Bureau | Census Bureau Income, Poverty, andHealth Insurance Coverage inthe United States: 2010
This report presents data on income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in the United States based on information collected in the 2011 and earlier Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplements (CPS ASEC) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.
