News
CNN: Money | Has Obama's housing policy failed?
The president's efforts to revive the housing market have largely failed. But is that entirely Obama's fault?
Bloomberg | World Bank Cuts Global Growth Forecast as Euro Region Contracts: Economy
The World Bank cut its global growth forecast by the most in three years, saying that a recession in the euro region threatens to exacerbate a slowdown in emerging markets such as India and Mexico.
Market Watch | U.S. wholesale prices decline in December
U.S. wholesale prices fell in December for the second time in three months, as the cost of gas and food declined.
Bloomberg | Germany Cuts 2012 Economic Growth Forecast as Crisis Dims Export Outlook
The German government cut its forecast for economic expansion this year as the debt crisis dims the outlook for sustaining record exports, leaving domestic demand as the main motor for growth.
Market Watch | Inflation seen easing, housing improving
In a rear-view look at the economy, reports this week on inflation, housing and manufacturing are likely to show the U.S. remained on a modest upward track at the end of 2011.
USA Today | Our cars are getting older, too: Average age now 10.8 years
The cars and trucks in America's driveways have reached a record old age, but there are signs that people are growing confident enough in the economy to want a whiff of that new-car scent.
Econ Comments and Analysis
WSJ | A Short (Sometimes Profitable) History of Private Equity
The industry may only date back a half-century, but purchases of distressed assets and leveraged buyouts are as old as capitalism.
Washington Times | LUFT: Market-based future for ethanol
Domestic product is critical insurance policy against oil shocks.
WSJ | A Tale of Two Pipelines
Canada and the U.S. trade economic places.
Politico | How Congress can hurt the economy
Economists at the University of Chicago and Stanford University developed an index to track policy uncertainty, finding that recent spikes have foreshadowed the loss of as many as 2.5 million jobs and a peak decline of 2.2 percent in gross domestic product.
Washington Times | KATZ & HUFBAUER: Don’t give up on world trade talks
New ideas can reboot negotiations and global economy.
Aol Energy | Chamber Chief Says Energy Can Lead Economy Revival
The US "is on the cusp of an energy boom that is already creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, revitalizing entire communities, and reinvigorating American manufacturing.
Investors.com | There's A Disparity In Wealth Creation, Too
People who are preoccupied, or even obsessed, with disparities in income are seldom interested much, or at all, in the disparities in the ability to create wealth, which are often the reasons for the disparities in income.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Barron’s Roundtable Blames Economic Malaise on Government Policies
The U.S. doesn’t have the same financial flexibility today that it had in 1979 and 1980. Government debt is 100% of GDP, compared with 32.6% then. The huge debt overhang is a ticking time bomb.… As Margaret Thatcher said, socialism is great until you run out of other people’s money.
Cato @ Liberty | Is California High-Speed Rail Dead?
When the authority was insisting that the rail line could be built for $43 billion, its highway-airport alternative was estimated to cost $100 billion. When the rail cost jumped to nearly $100 billion, the highway-airport cost mysteriously increased to $171 billion.
Daily Capitalist | Bank Data Supports Austrian Theory For Rapid Recovery
It is an axiom of Austrian economic theory that the quickest road to recovery is to liquidate malinvestments as soon as possible. That is, sell off or bankrupt those failed projects invested in on the way up the boom phase of the business cycle.
Marginal Revolution | Is the middle class shrinking?
That’s right, the share of households with income that puts them in the middle class or higher was 76 percent in 1970 and 75 percent in 2010—two figures that are statistically indistinguishable.
Atlantic: Megan McArdle | What Would New York Look Like With a Smaller Financial Sector?
After a disappointing year, the big banks are pulling back on their bonus pools.
Econlog | Econlog Saving and Investment: My (Keynesian) Take
When workers want to save more, they buy fewer consumer goods and more raw materials. They invest these raw materials with entrepreneurs, who allocate them between cheap construction and expensive construction.
