News
WSJ | Belgium Slides Into Recession
Belgium's economy fell back into recession at the end of 2011, reversing the strong growth it had seen in the first half of the year as the country became the latest to fall victim to the euro zone's twin fiscal and banking crises.
National Journal | White House Proposes Long-Shot Housing Initiative
The White House on Wednesday proposed initiatives to stabilize the struggling housing market, but the package faces long odds because it relies in part on a bank tax that is likely to go nowhere in Congress.
Bloomberg | China Economy Heading for ‘Hard Landing’ as Exports Falter, Shilling Says
China’s economy is headed for a “hard landing” this year as weaker demand overseas chokes off exports, said Gary Shilling, who correctly forecast the U.S. recession that began in December 2007.
Bloomberg | Manufacturing in U.S. Bolsters Global Expansion: Economy
Manufacturing in the U.S. grew in January at the fastest pace in seven months, adding to signs of a global pickup from Germany to China.
Market Watch | Fourth-quarter productivity growth slows
The productivity of U.S. businesses rose at a slower rate in the fourth quarter as labor costs rose, the government said Thursday.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | The 'Financial Recession' Excuse
Commerce Department data released last Friday show that four years after the recession began, real gross domestic product per person is down $1,112, while 5.8 million fewer Americans are working than when the recession started.
Washington Times | The economics of fear
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued its outlook through 2022, with near-term figures looking increasingly negative. This shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Project Syndicate | Coronary Capitalism
A systematic and broad failure of regulation is the elephant in the room when it comes to reforming today’s Western capitalism.
Washington Times | Obama’s divided America
A new survey shows that Barack Obama is the most polarizing president in the last 60 years. As divisive as he is, the current occupant of the White House has simply exacerbated a trend towards disunity that has been developing for years.
Blogs
Café Hayek | A Question for Protectionists
Congressional Quarterly reports (unfortunately gated) that several members of Congress – from both parties – seek to raise tariffs on Americans who buy foreign goods that (allegedly) are subsidized by foreign governments
Coordination Problem | Corporatism Is NOT Capitalism
Several leading classical liberal and libertarian thinkers have over the past few years suggested abandoning the name capitalism because of the connotation that it implies caputre by the corporate elite.
Marginal Revolution | Why is the quality of American governance so low?
Conversely, I would argue that the quality of governance in the US tends to be low precisely because of a continuing tradition of Jacksonian populism.
WSJ | World-Wide Factory Activity, by Country
The manufacturing sectors in most of the world improved last month, though many regions, especially in Europe, remained in contractionary territory.
Heritage Foundation | Clean Energy: Cap and Trade Lite
In his State of the Union address last month, President Obama requested that Congress pass legislation mandating a national clean energy standard (CES). A CES targets the CO2 emissions from the electric power industry by setting minimum percentages of total power (electricity) generation that must come from sources that emit no CO2.
CATO | One Year Later, Another Look at Obamanomics vs. Reaganomics
Under Reagan’s policies, the economy skyrocketed. Under Obama’s policies, by contrast, we’ve just barely gotten back to where we were when the recession began.
