News
USA Today | Rate on 30-year mortgages hits 4%, just over record low
The average rate on the 30-year mortgage stayed near 4% for the third straight week, just above the record low. But cheap mortgage rates are doing little to boost home sales or refinancing.
Market Watch | Congress eyes help for big first-time homeowners
Provision in must-pass spending bill could hike taxpayer costs.
MSN: Money | Will DC wreck the economy again?
We've seen politicians in Europe roil the market, and now the congressional supercommittee is running out of time. Will members make the hard decisions we need?
Econ Comments
Forbes | There Are No Longer Any Excuses For Obamanomics
Before this last recession, since the Great Depression recessions in America have lasted an average of 10 months, with the longest previously lasting 16 months. Yet here we are 47 months after the last recession started, and we still have no real recovery.
Bloomberg | Economy Growing at Fastest Pace
The U.S. economy may end 2011 growing at its fastest clip in 18 months as analysts increase their forecasts for the fourth quarter just a few months after a slowdown raised concern among investors.
Washington Times | MILLER: Trimming the welfare state
Proposals would streamline wasteful, duplicative bureaucracy.
AEI: American | It’s Europe’s Economic Growth, Stupid
European policymakers are clinging to the forlorn hope that the eurozone crisis can readily be defused by putting in place national unity governments in Greece and Italy.
Blogs
Café Hayek | Sniffing Out Rent-Seekers
This young man apparently believes that government refusing to prevent businesses from competing for consumer dollars is the same as government forcibly transferring money from consumers to businesses. But he’s mistaken.
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Fed’s Pianalto: European Slowdown Could Trim 0.5% From U.S. Growth
A U.S. Federal Reserve official said Thursday that she sees signs of inflationary pressure moderating, and upgraded her growth forecasts for the next two years.
Econlog | Do AS and AD Intersect in a Recession?
There, the only problem in the economy is that the wage rate is too high. Thus, you get an excess supply of labor. Given the too-high wage, there is no excess supply in the goods market (firms are producing where marginal revenue equals marginal cost). But I have two issues with the textbook model.
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Food Stamp Use Rose in 2010
Food stamp use continued to rise in the U.S last year, with almost 12% of all households receiving some form of the assistance, the Census Bureau said Thursday. More recent data show that 15% of the population gets food-stamp assistance.
Reason Foundation | Nominal GDP Targeting: Inflation and Misdirection
In the interview, Romer states that the Fed should encourage inflation and commit to whatever is necessary to achieve rapid growth in the short-term, and then once the economy gets back on trend, “return to normal inflation and get back to the very steady, responsible policy as before.”
WSJ: Real Time Economics | European Children More Likely to Outperform Parents Than Americans
Despite the widespread belief among Americans that they’re destined to do better than their parents, Americans are more likely to live as well as or worse than their parents than their counterparts in many European countries.
Reports
NBER | General Education, Vocational Education, and Labor-Market Outcomes over the Life-Cycle
Policy debates about the balance of vocational and general education programs focus on the school-to-work transition. But with rapid technological change, gains in youth employment from vocational education may be offset by less adaptability and thus diminished employment later in life.
Mercatus Center | Regulatory Analysis and Regulatory Reform
Congress and the executive branch have attempted to improve the quality of regulatory decisions by adopting several laws and executive orders.
