News
CNN Money | Who are the 1 percent?
Last year, it took just $343,927 to join that elite group, according to newly released statistics from the Internal Revenue Service.
WSJ | Washington Area Is Tops in Income
Census data for 2010 show median household income was $84,523 in the D.C. area, compared with $83,944 for the San Jose region, the epicenter of Silicon Valley.
CNN Money | Lawmakers: Repeal rule that spurred bank fees
Several lawmakers announced Wednesday that they will again try to get rid of the provision in the Wall Street reform law that blocked big banks from charging retailers more than 24 cents for processing a swiped debit card. That was a reduction from the previous average of 40 cents.
WSJ | Foreigners' Sweetener: Buy House, Get a Visa
The reeling housing market has come to this: To shore it up, two Senators are preparing to introduce a bipartisan bill Thursday that would give residence visas to foreigners who spend at least $500,000 to buy houses in the U.S.
CNN Money | Fed: Economy weakening but no sign of recession
The economy is losing steam across much of the nation, but is still growing and not in recession, according to the latest outlook from the Federal Reserve.
Bloomberg | Consumers Most Negative Since Recession
The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index’s monthly expectations gauge dropped to minus 45, the worst reading since February 2009. The weekly measure of current conditions was minus 48.4 for the period ended Oct. 16, up from minus 50.8 the prior week that was close to a record low.
Econ Comments
WSJ | How to Clean Up the Housing Mess
Millions of foreclosures are ruining millions of lives. We can do better than Social Darwinism.
American Spectator | Visible Projects, Hidden Destruction
In fact, once creating jobs is viewed as the chief purpose of government spending, said Hazlitt, a project with more waste and more inefficiency in its implementation, and less labor productivity, will be viewed as superior to a less wasteful project.
Real Clear Markets | The Economic Disappointment of Generation O
Generation O voted for Barack Obama believing him to be a new kind of leader, but he has delivered them an Old Economy with European-style mandates (think Obamacare), sclerosis, and dysfunction.
Blogs
Atlantic: McArdle | The 1% Ain't What It Used To Be
Note that this is not an argument about who suffers more during a recession; it is self-evident that a worker who loses a third of their $20,000 annual paycheck is much worse off than an owner who loses two thirds of their $500,000 annual draw. But the measured gap between their incomes will still shrink dramatically.
Daily Capitalist | Americans Blame Government More Than Wall Street For Economy
As the article notes, this has important political implications. It is a significant shift in Americans’ perceptions of the problems we face.
Reports
RCM: Wells Fargo Economics Group | Housing Starts Jump In September
Housing starts rose to a 658K-unit pace in September on the heels of an upwardly revised 572K-unit pace in the month of August. The gain was driven primarily by a 51.3 percent increase in multifamily starts.
