News
Market Watch | Banks face deadline on tougher mortgage standards
Big banks struggling with stalled mortgage modifications face a new hurdle — tighter standards due to take effect in just over two months from housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
National Journal | Congressional Concerns Mount Over Keystone XL Oil Pipeline
More than 30 House Democrats on Monday called on the Obama administration to reject the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would snake 1,700 miles from Canada to Texas, citing a published report raising concerns about a reportedly biased State Department environmental review.
Bloomberg | China Economy Grows Least in 2 Years as Europe Demand Cools
China’s economy grew 9.1 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace since 2009, driving stocks lower on concern that Europe’s debt crisis is dragging on the global recovery.
WSJ | France's Credit Rating Under Pressure
France's ability to support troubled euro zone countries was challenged Tuesday as the government acknowledged it is unlikely to meet its growth forecast next year and Moody's Investors Service said the stable outlook on its prized triple-A credit rating was under pressure.
Washington Times | Consumer electronics chief: Obama regulators lack business experience
President Obama’s regulatory team is hurting U.S. competitiveness and slowing the growth of the economy because of its members’ lack of business experience, the head of the nation’s largest consumer electronics trade group said Monday.
Econ Comments
Washington Times | BLANKLEY: Washington contemplates tougher China trade policy
Growing number of policymakers question currency manipulation.
WSJ | The Euro Crisis: Lessons From Bear Stearns
Europe can't afford to bail out Italy, so it might as well send the right message now by forcing Greece to restructure its debt.
Politico | New oil speculation limits draw fire
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, expected Tuesday to approve long-awaited limits on oil and other energy market speculators, is already facing criticism from the right for overreaching and the left for not being aggressive enough.
AEI | Fewer Babies, for Better or Worse
As European, Chinese and American women have fewer children, is the global economy endangered? Or is this easing the burden on a crowded planet?
Blogs
Daily Capitalist | Retail Sales Went DOWN In September, Not Up
Last week the markets reacted very strongly to the retail services report from the Census Bureau that said they went up 1.1%. The only problem with that conclusion is that they didn’t go up.
Heritage Foundation | Government Backing for Solar Firms Remains an Economic Drag
Even where government-backed companies stay afloat, federal intervention directs resources to less productive and profitable activities.
Heritage Foundation | Energy Production = Deficit Reduction
Today, the House Natural Resources Committee released its list of recommendations to the deficit reduction super committee. Their recommendations would go a long way to increase revenue for the federal government without raising taxes.
Reports
RCM: Wells Fargo | Industrial Production Advances In September
Industrial production increased as expected in September, rising 0.2 percent from the month before. August was revised down to zero growth, though July was revised higher, offsetting the impact.
