News
Politico | D.C. area Dems blast GOP pension-cut plan
Washington-area Democratic lawmakers say House Republicans are picking on federal workers by targeting pension plans to pay for mass transit programs.
Washington Times | Student debt often leads to bankruptcy, lawyers find
Four out of five bankruptcy lawyers reported a “significant” increase in clients seeking help with college loan debt, and 40 percent said such cases have increased by at least 25 percent in just the past three years, the report says.
Politico | Congress rating drops to new low
Gallup said in new poll Wednesday that a mere 10 percent of 1,029 participants approve of Congress’s performance – a record low for the respected polling outfit.
National Journal | House Overwhelmingly Passes STOCK Act
The House on Thursday in a 417 to 2 vote passed the STOCK Act to bar lawmakers from trading stocks based on nonpublic information.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | A nation of moochers
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke warned Tuesday against both raising taxes and cutting spending. In testimony before the Senate Budget Committee, Mr. Bernanke said we must protect the fragile economic recovery
WSJ | U.S., Banks Agree on Foreclosure Pact
Government officials have finalized an agreement worth as much as $26 billion with five major banks, capping a yearlong push to settle federal and state probes of alleged foreclosure abuses by lenders.
Washington Times | Dodd-Frank won’t prevent next bank bailout
There always have been bank failures and always will be. The trick is to allow sufficient risk to promote economic growth but not so much that it leads to widespread failures and financial panic.
AEI | Wanted: a user's manual for capitalism
Only by knowing who owned and owed what, could a rational system of buying, selling, insuring, and producing take hold.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Even Krugman Agrees–Economy in a Dead-Cat-Bounce Recovery
Despite a recent spate of good economic data, including last week’s jobs report, the U.S. economy remains deeply depressed. Don’t take my word for it. That’s how Paul Krugman, leftist econo-pundit extraordinaire, describes the economy.
WSJ | Falling U.S. Share of Trade Not Due to Competitiveness Problems
New research published by the New York Fed Tuesday argues the U.S. isn’t suffering as badly on the trade front as many now believe.
Neighborhood Effects | What Happens When The Regulators Are Biased?
Behavioral economics (BE) examines the implications for decision-making when actors suffer from biases documented in the psychological literature. This article considers how such biases affect regulatory decisions.
