News
Market Watch | IMF slashes world economic growth outlook
The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday slashed its economic forecast, responding to slow private-sector demand, sovereign debt and bank troubles, the Japanese earthquake and Middle East unrest.
Market Watch | Construction of new U.S. homes falls 5%
Builders started construction on fewer new homes in August, underscoring how the depressed U.S. real estate market shows little sign of recovering.
CNN: Money | U.S. to challenge Chinese tariffs on chickens
U.S. trade officials say that the tariffs have hit the U.S. poultry industry to the tune of between $500 million and $1 billion, with 90% of poultry sales to China wiped out.
Econ Comments
NY Times | Our Hidden Government Benefits
Americans often fail to recognize government’s role in society, even if they have experienced it in their own lives. That is because so much of what government does today is largely invisible.
Washington Times | BLANKLEY: Double-dip learning curve
Obama about-face on tax hikes flummoxes both left and right.
WSJ | Why Greece Won't Reform
Over the past year the government hasn't laid off a single civil servant.
Daily Caller | How Obama’s last stimulus bill became a comedy of errors
In 2009, his $825 billion extravaganza, touted as an emergency measure, targeted sectors of the economy with the lowest unemployment rates — namely, government employees (2.3 percent unemployed), in particular those in schooling and health care (3.8 percent unemployed). By contrast, unemployment rates in manufacturing and construction were 8.3 percent and 15.2 percent respectively.
WSJ | Defusing a Savings Bomb
Labor's new financial advisory rule gets pulled.
RCM | Three Years After the Bailouts, A Weaker Banking System
The U.S. economy continues to struggle, and the bailouts are a significant reason why. That's the case because recessions, as painful as they are, are in fact a beautiful economic signal that tell us the economy is on the mend.
Blogs
The Economist | A sorry story of American trade
America’s share of world exports has slipped more than that of most developed countries over the last decade while its share of direct investment has plummeted precipitously.
Cato @ Liberty | The Decline in Global Economic Freedom
After having risen for decades, global economic freedom has fallen for a second year in a row. That’s according to Economic Freedom of the World: 2011 Annual Report co-published today with the Fraser Institute. The average global economic freedom score rose from 5.53 (out of 10) in 1980 to 6.74 in 2007 and has fallen to 6.64 in 2009, the last year for which data is available.
Heritage Foundation | Does Supply Create Demand?
Which comes first: supply or demand? This question has serious policy implications, especially as President Barack Obama proposes $447 billion in additional stimulus spending in order to try to spur job growth in America.
