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Monday, September 26, 2011

Health Care

News                                                                                                                             
CNN: Money | Open enrollment: Maximize your benefits
Though the offerings may look pretty much the same as last year's, companies are tinkering with the design of their health plans to shift even more of the financial burden to employees.

Econ Comments                                                                                                             
AEI | Medicine's Next Great Challenge: Returning Science to Patient
Creating the personalized healthcare system of the future will require the combined efforts of universities and industry, regulators and entrepreneurs. But more than anything else, it will require an unprecedented level of participation from patients themselves, whose willingness to contribute to this effort and share of themselves will ultimately drive the success of this initiative.
WSJ | The Census, ObamaCare and the Uninsured
Health insurance remains closely tied to employment. Don't expect a turnaround until the jobs picture improves.

Monetary

News                                                                                                                             
Bloomberg | Betting on Bernanke Returns 28% for Treasuries
Treasuries due in 10 or more years have returned 28 percent in 2011, exceeding the 24.4 percent gain in all of 2008 during worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Econ Comments                                                                                                             
Washington Times | EDITORIAL: Keep the change
During Banking Committee nomination hearings, senators will often ignore candidates for important jobs in other financial roles if there’s someone else at the table who can talk about dollar coins. This utterly wasteful program is costing us a billion, and it’s a perfect example of why this country is going bankrupt.
WSJ | Will Chinese Twist Fight the Fed?
China probably won't face a new wave of destabilizing hot money into its financial system. "Operation Twist" doesn't involve printing more money, but only a shift in $400 billion of the Federal Reserve's holdings of U.S. Treasury's from the short to the long end of the curve.

Blogs                                                                                                                             
Minyanville | The Logic of Operation Twist
Realistically, no one should hold out any hope for this latest foray into monetary tinkering to affect output and employment.

Taxes

Blogs                                                                                                                             
Heritage Foundation | Chart of the Week: U.S. Rivals Japan for World’s Highest Corporate Tax Rate
Republicans and Democrats on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction this week finally agreed on something substantive: The U.S. corporate tax rate is too high.
Heritage Foundation | Scribecast: Rep. Kevin Brady on Taxes, Free Trade and Why Texas Is Best
The MAP ACT is an ambitious plan to control government spending through “smart caps” and other measures such as a Sunset Commission and requirement to prioritize spending from most to least essential. He would also create a permanent continuing resolution to avoid the threat of government shutdowns.

Budget

News                                                                                                                             
CNN Money | Shutdown looms as Congress debates FEMA funding
The standoff continues Monday between the House and the Senate over emergency funding, which is holding up a short-term spending measure to keep government running into the new fiscal year that begins this weekend.
NY Times | As Sides Dig In, Panel on Deficit Has an Uphill Fight
As if expectations were not low enough for the special Congressional committee charged with writing a deficit-reduction deal, they seem to be falling by the day as the two parties harden their positions on spending and taxes.
CNN Money | Geithner sounds alarm on Europe
U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner warned Saturday that the sovereign debt and banking crisis in Europe represents "the most serious risk now confronting the world economy."
Politico | Disaster aid or disaster in making?
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s risky decision to wait until the 11th hour to hold a vote on a must-pass budget bill relies on the support of a handful of Republicans who previously backed a Democratic plan approving billions in federal disaster aid.