News
Market Watch | U.S. Oct. consumer credit up $7.6 billion
U.S. consumers increased their debt for the second straight month in October, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday. Consumers raised their debt by a seasonally adjusted $7.6 billion or at a 3.7% annual rate in October.
CNN: Money | Europe's mission 'hardly' accomplished
It is not that reckless fiscal policies were the common cause of the present crisis -- they were not. But German and Dutch voters do not want to risk subsidizing reckless fiscal policies indefinitely.
Market Watch | Obama makes final push for consumer nominee
The Obama administration and Democrats made a final multi-pronged effort to convince lawmakers to approve the White House’s nominee to head a new consumer watchdog bureau ahead of a Senate vote on the candidate scheduled for Thursday.
Washington Times | 2012 mortgage delinquencies seen dropping sharply
Banks are still working through a backlog of foreclosures created by issues including the robo-signing scandal, in which bank officials signed mortgage documents without verifying the information they contained.
CNN: Money | S&P puts European Union on notice
The U.S.-based rating agency said the decision to put the European Union on review followed naturally from Monday's action against individual countries. Eurozone members directly contributed approximately 62% of the EU's budgeted revenues this year, S&P noted.
USA Today | Bankruptcies drop as corporate profits, cash at record high
While unemployment remains stubbornly high and more consumers are facing serious financial hardship, corporate earnings and cash hordes continue to be at record highs.
Econ Comments
AEI | Want to invest in the U.S.? Team Obama says no thanks
When an economic downturn hits, one of the first concerns of policymakers should be getting business investment back on track.
Washington Times | HUFBAUER: Debunking the big-oil subsidy myth
Energy companies receive same tax treatment as other manufacturers.
Daily Caller | Small business owners want Washington to REIN in egulations
According to a 2010 Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy study, small firms bear a regulatory cost that is 36 percent higher than the cost of regulatory compliance for large businesses, because they don’t have the resources to deal with federal regulations.
Politico | Set a new course for America’s energy future
As the Congress hurries to finish up its 2011 business, they would do well to pay attention to two important pieces of information.
Forbes | Capitalism Isn't Corporatism or Cronyism
Capitalism is the greatest socio-economic system in human history, because it’s so moral and so productive – the two features so essential to human survival and flourishing.
Cato Institute | Promoting U.S. Exports and the Rule of Law in Russia
Whether U.S. companies can reap the benefits of a more open Russian market will depend on the repeal of a U.S. law that has become an awkward relic of the Cold War.
Blogs
NRO: The Corner | Regulatory Reform Needs to Be Comprehensive
Congress needs to take responsibility for the regulatory results of the legislation it passes. But let’s face it, there is no silver bullet that will fix our regulatory problems.
Marginal Revolution | Predictions about the eurozone
It is sometimes asserted that the economics profession should lose some status because so few economists predicted the U.S. financial crisis. I’m not sure economists should be judged by their ability to predict asset price movements, but grant the point.
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Remaking Doha for China
Trade economists would agree the Doha global trade round is dying, if it isn’t dead already. A new World Bank paper argues the way to revive the round is to refocus the negotiations on China
Econlog | Today on the Eurozone Crisis
So, in terms of the two-drunks model, the fact that the European Central Bank will buy bank debt rather than sovereign debt means that the ECB will support only one of the drunks.
Reports
AEI | Foreign direct investment, corruption and democracy
Hence more democratic countries may receive less Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows if economic freedoms are not guaranteed. One reason could be that democratizing developing economies are often unable to push through the kind of economic reforms that investors desire due to the presence of competing political interests.
