News
WSJ | Lean Companies Ready to Cut
Despite another quarter of robust corporate profits, an ominous impulse is stirring at many big companies—restructuring.
Market Watch | Third-quarter U.S. growth: Not so bad
Economy likely sped up in late summer, but outlook still murky.
National Journal | Obama to Propose New Housing Loan Program
President Obama will unveil a plan to allow homeowners to switch to cheaper loans even if they have no equity on their current homes.
WSJ | China Manufacturing Index Rebounds
An indicator of manufacturing activity in China hit positive territory for the first time in four months, easing worries that the economy faces a sharp slowdown and that tight credit is seriously hurting small and midsize businesses, key drivers of employment.
WSJ | Glimmers in Recent Data Brighten Economic Views
Analysts have been raising their estimates of U.S. economic growth, an about-face from just a month ago, when they were lowering those forecasts and fretting that the country was on the cusp of recession.
Econ Comments
AEI | Debit Card Surcharge Is a Free Market Reaction to Government Controls on Swipe Fees
Banks are not the most popular institutions these days, but they can hardly be faulted for raising fees in one area of their business after Congress imposed price caps in another.
NY Times | Four Nations, Four Lessons
If American policy makers don’t rein in entitlement spending over the next several decades, they will have little choice but to raise taxes close to European levels. We can then see whether the next generation of Americans spends less time at work earning a living and more time sipping espresso in outdoor cafes.
WSJ | So Much for the Volcker Rule
Even in 298 pages, regulators can't decide what to regulate.
Market Watch | The real bear market
Your cost of living went up about 0.2% in September, says the government. Meanwhile your U.S. stocks went down about 8%.
WSJ | The Wild Ride of the 1%
The once-stable incomes of America's biggest earners now fluctuate dramatically from year to year. And as go the rich, so goes much of the economy.
CNN: Money | Fed's Dudley calls for housing aid
"If prospective homeowners no longer fear that prices could decline further they will be more willing to enter the market to take advantage of reduced prices and lower financing costs, and existing homeowners will feel more confident about increasing their spending."
Blogs
AEI: American | Income inequality can be explained by household demographics
Here is a summary of some of the key demographic differences between American households in the bottom and top income quintiles in 2010:
Atlantic: Megan McArdle | The Limits of Stimulus
While I was at Chicago last weekend I sat down with Raghu Rajan, formerly Chief Economist of the IMF. And one of the things he pointed out is that the Great Moderation bred this assumption that policy can always do something. That may not be the case.
AEI: American | Adult baby is a symptom of a broken Social Security system
Currently, there is little to nothing in the system that signals the costs to both workers and employers—both are inclined to increase the SSDI rolls on the federal dollar.
Daily Capitalist | A Macro and Micro Austrian Look at Current Markets: No Anorexia Consumptionosa
First and foremost, my view is that the markets and the mainstream media have been giving insufficient attention (if any at all) to the core problem that was revealed by the meltdown in 2008. Massive amounts of capital was misspent (“malinvested”) during the boom.
Calculated Risk | Schedule for Week of Oct 23rd
The key U.S. economic report for the coming week is the Q3 advance GDP report to be released on Thursday.
Econlog | Newspaper Macroeconomics
From the perspective of a macroeconomic textbook, journalists write as if the aggregate supply curve is nearly vertical with respect to monetary policy and nearly horizontal for fiscal policy.
Calculated Risk | Unofficial Problem Bank list declines to 976 Institutions
With four removals and one addition, the Unofficial Problem Bank List finished the week at 976 institutions with assets of $401.9 billion.
Reports
RCM: Wells Fargo | Weekly Economic & Financial Commentary
The triumph of thoughtful analysis over hype continues. This week’s data on leading indicators, jobless claims, housing starts and the Philadelphia Fed survey suggest moderate growth ahead.
