News
Bloomberg | Services in U.S. May Show Economy Picking Up
Service industries in the U.S. probably grew in December at the fastest pace in three months, showing the economy picked up as 2011 drew to a close, economists said before a report today.
USA Today | Obama bypasses Senate, installs new consumer chief
A defiant President Obama, tired of Senate Republicans stalling his nominee to lead a new consumer protection agency, put him in charge Wednesday over their opposition.
Bloomberg | Fed Report Says Greater Fannie, Freddie Losses May Help Housing Recovery
The study, delivered today to leaders of the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees, noted “tension” between aiding the economy and minimizing losses of the failed government-sponsored enterprises, which depend on taxpayer aid for survival.
Investors.com | 2011 Auto Industry Sales Boon To U.S. Manufacturing
Car sales are strongly up with automakers reporting U.S. data for all of 2011 Wednesday, as domestic brands overall, led by Chrysler, gained market share.
NY Times | Harder for Americans to Rise From Lower Rungs
The mobility gap has been widely discussed in academic circles, but a sour season of mass unemployment and street protests has moved the discussion toward center stage.
Econ Comments
WSJ | Solyndra on Rails
California's high-speed rail project 'is not financially feasible.'
WSJ | Beijing in the Driver's Seat
China still needs foreign auto makers, but investors would be wise to plan for the day it won't.
Fox News | America's Future Is Oil
Don’t be fooled claims that fossil fuels are doomed. Alternative fuels won’t be coming on line anytime soon, certainly not enough to replace the essential role that oil, natural gas, and coal play in our economy from sources of energy to modern plastics and petrochemicals.
WSJ | Contempt for Congress
Obama makes recess appointments when there's no recess.
WSJ | Where to Put Your Money in 2012
U.S. stocks should produce returns of about 7% going forward, five points higher than the yield on safe bonds.
WSJ | Badly Written Bad Rules
New studies show the quality of federal regulation is plummeting.
Blogs
Econlog | Some Questions About Government
As corporations become large, they become more powerful in some ways, but they also become clumsy. As government gets large, I see the clumsiness. What I do not see is any tendency for the clumsiness of government to be corrected by competitive forces.
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Charting Moves Across State Lines
More and more Americans are moving across state lines, according to moving company Atlas Van Lines.
AEI: The American | January Surprise: Is Obama preparing a trillion-dollar, mass refinancing of mortgages?
This could be just the beginning. If President Barack Obama’s legally dodgy appointment of Richard Cordray to head the consumer finance agency should stick, it may open the door to more such actions.
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Senate Republicans Could Delay Fed Confirmations Over Recess Appointment Fight
President Barack Obama‘s contentious decision to use a recess appointment to install the first director of a new consumer financial agency could result in delays to Senate confirmations of two recently announced appointees to the Federal Reserve Board, two Senate Republican leadership aides said.
