News
CNN Money | FHA to hike premiums on mortgages
In an effort to bolster its capital reserves, the Federal Housing Administration is planning to hike the insurance premiums it charges borrowers.
Market Watch | Orders for big-ticket items fall 4% in January
Orders for long-lasting U.S. goods fell a bigger-than-expected 4.0% in January, as demand for a broad array of products declined, the government reported Tuesday.
USA Today | 3 doomsaying experts who foresee economic devastation ahead
Behind the mainstream Wall Street happy talk about more stable financial markets and an improving economy are grim warnings of tough times ahead from a small cadre of doomsayers who warn that the worst of the financial crisis is still to come.
CNN Money | Water bills expected to triple in some parts of U.S.
Many consumers could see their water bills double or even triple, as the country attempts to overhaul its aging water system over the next 25 years.
NY Times | TransCanada Renewing Request to Build Keystone Pipeline
TransCanada said Monday that it would reapply for a permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline from Canadian oil sands formations in Alberta to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico, assuring that the fiercely contested project will remain a source of political heat throughout the presidential campaign.
CNN Money | Strategic oil reserve tap offers only a little relief
When gas prices are climbing, as they are now, there's an equivalent surge in talk of tapping the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve
Bloomberg | European Economic Confidence Beats Estimates
Economic confidence in the euro area improved more than forecast in February, adding to signs the economy is stabilizing after a fourth-quarter contraction.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Daily Caller | Government cannot be run like a business
Despite his big-government record as a governor, Mitt Romney has run for president as a conservative who would allow the free market to work. To bolster his credibility, he points to his success as CEO of Bain Capital. Romney led that company to become one of the largest and most successful private equity investment firms in the nation.
Politico | JOBS Act just what Obama ordered
America has always offered immense opportunity because innovators have had the ability to take risks, work hard and be rewarded for it. Innovators, entrepreneurs and small-business people built the framework for American success, creating legacies lasting generations.
Blogs
Café Hayek | Gifts Do Not Cause Wages to Rise
So here’s why – referring to my earlier post – success by the University of Virginia’s hunger-striking students to pressure that institution to arbitrarily raise the wages that it pays to its janitors would not put upward pressure on wage rates for non-UVA-employed janitors and other low-wage workers: any such increase in wages would do nothing to increase the demand for janitors and other low-skilled workers
Heritage Foundation | Subsidies and Costs in the Solar Industry
According to Germany’s environment minister, Norbert Roettgen, “Solar is a success story made in Germany.” “Success” appears to mean having the world’s largest amount of ridiculously overpriced electricity. (The German subsidy for solar energy is up to five times the actual wholesale cost in the U.S.)
