News
Market Watch | Obama administration to reject Keystone pipeline
The Obama administration will reject TransCanada Corp.'s application for a permit to build a huge oil pipeline between Canada and the United States, but give the firm a chance to reapply after it develops an alternate route.
CNN: Money | Key Wall Street reform rule under fire
Republicans on a House Financial Services subcommittee criticized the rule, which aims to stop banks from making risky bets with their own money called proprietary trading.
Bloomberg | Philadelphia-Area Manufacturing Increases
Manufacturing in the Philadelphia region expanded at faster pace in January as employment picked up and factories grew more optimistic about business in the next six months.
Washington Times | Fed pushes for government action to help revive housing
Ideas include big roles for Freddie, Fannie.
Market Watch | U.S. housing starts fall 4.1% in December
New construction of U.S. houses retreated in December, putting an end to a year in which builders broke ground on a record-low number of single-family homes, the Commerce Department estimated Thursday.
Econ Comments and Analysis
Washington Times | EDITORIAL: Obama’s pipe-dream economy
President thinks more jobs created by jobless checks than oil pipeline.
CRS | Loan Guarantees for Clean Energy Technologies: Goals, Concerns, and Policy Options
Government guaranteed debt is a financial tool that has been used to support a number of federal policy objectives: home ownership, higher education, and small business development, among others.
Cato @ Liberty | It's Up to The Private Sector to Invest in New Technology
If green energy is commercially promising, then profit-hungry capitalists will make those investments.
Bloomberg | America’s Dirty War Against Manufacturing (Part 1): Carl Pope
Manufacturing’s share of U.S. employment peaked in 1979 and has since fallen by almost half. Although manufacturing has been a relative bright spot in the dismal economy of the past couple of years, in the last decade, the U.S. lost a third of its manufacturing jobs, with the damage rippling far beyond that base to erode millions of jobs that are dependent on it.
Washington Post | The economic lessons the rest of the world could teach us
The German system gives incentives to train workers and keep them employed; in contrast, the U.S. system emphasizes flexibility, the ability to hire and fire, and keeping wages low.
Bloomberg | Euro Area on Verge of Technical Recession, Must Boost Growth, Juncker Says
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean- Claude Juncker said the euro area must find ways to boost economic growth while tightening government budgets because the region risks economic stagnation.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Under Obama, Oil and Gas Production on Federal Lands Is Down 40%
As a nation, we need to take advantage of all our natural resources to spur economic growth, create jobs and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil.
Atlantic: Megan McArdle | Income Mobility Means Some People Have to Lose Everything
I've said before that I don't care about income inequality per se, and that focusing on it seems more like institutionalized envy than sound policy.
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Vital Signs: Early Signals of Manufacturing Strength
The Empire State Manufacturing Survey’s business conditions index, based on a poll of manufacturing executives, rose five points to 13.5 this month, indicating expansion.
