News
Bloomberg | Europe’s $39T Pension Threat Grows
State-funded pension obligations in 19 of the European Union nations were about five times higher than their combined gross debt. The countries in the report compiled by the Research Center for Generational Contracts at Freiburg University in 2009 had almost 30 trillion euros ($39.3 trillion) of projected obligations to their existing populations.
CNN: Money | Middle class dropouts
Nearly one third of Americans who were raised in the middle class dropped down the economic ladder as adults -- and that's before the Great Recession hit.
Bloomberg | Bernanke Doubles Down on Fed Mortgage Bet
Since the Fed started buying $1.25 trillion of mortgage bonds in January 2009, the value of U.S. housing has fallen 4.1 percent, and is down 32 percent from its 2006 peak, according to an S&P/Case-Shiller index.
WSJ | German Economy Shrank Slightly at End of 2011
Germany's economy contracted slightly in the fourth quarter, raising questions about how much longer Berlin will continue to shoulder the burden of rescuing fiscally wayward euro-zone members.
Econ Comments and Analysis
AEI | Founding fathers would have wanted to keep CFPB in check
In a democracy, no one—not a single individual or collective body—should be 'independent.' All should be subject to checks and balances — just as designed by the American Founding Fathers."
Washington Times | EDITORIAL: The free market’s new frontier
Private space adventurers make their own plans to see the universe.
WSJ | Europe Weird and New
Below-zero bond yields and other signs of the Apocalypse.
Investors.com | U.S. Government Goes Gazelle Hunting
While most Americans are familiar with the financial terms "bull" and "bear," a lesser-known animal metaphor economists like to use is "gazelle" — referring to a small business that, like the animal, is known for being lean and swift.
Washington Times | MURRAY AND BIER: Avoiding a lost decade
Obama on course to repeat Japan’s errors of the 1990s.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Falsehoods Abound in Case of California High-Speed Rail
Their projections for new demand for high-speed rail travel are inflated, which allows them to claim that highways throughout the Los Angeles–San Francisco corridor would have to be expanded by three lanes—regardless of current demand and congestion levels.
Minyanville | The Key Lesson From Fourth Quarter 2011
A lot of the outperformance for the quarter came due to a correction in late September before the quarter began.
Econlog | Why Foreclosure Prevention is Not Helpful
As I have said many times, foreclosure prevention keeps the housing crisis in front of us, rather than putting it behind us. It is an exercise in futility that is equivalent to the oil price controls of the 1970s.
Café Hayek | Be careful what you wish for
One lesson we might learn is that private-public partnerships are dangerous. The other lesson we might learn is how to think about data. What was the alleged impetus for a national strategy to increase home ownership?
Daily Capitalist | Gasoline Use and NFIB Survey Still Recessionary
Fuel use fell below a year earlier for the 18th consecutive time last week, slipping 3 percent from 2010 levels. Fuel demand over the previous four weeks was 3.4 percent below a year earlier, the 41st consecutive decline in that measure…
Econlog | Type the Title You Want People to See
The nature of the transformation is highlighted by the 50 fold change in the relative price of a television set of a constant quality and a day in a hospital over the last generation.
Heritage Foundation | A Not-So-Happy New Year for the Entrepreneur in 2011
Last week, The Heritage Foundation co-hosted the launch of the 2012 Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (GEDI), a new tool giving insight into the effect that various drivers of entrepreneurship have on economic development in countries around the world.
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Senate Republicans Criticize Fed on Housing Advocacy
Top Federal Reserve officials came under fire on Capitol Hill on Tuesday as Republicans criticized the central bank for advocating more steps to aid the battered U.S. housing market.
