News
WSJ | States Keep Axes Sharpened
States are moving to cut jobs and other spending to close budget deficits, even though their protracted fiscal crisis is easing a bit in an improving economy.
Bloomberg | EU Budget Deal May Leave Spain Struggling to Meet Deficit-Reduction Goal
European Union pressure on Spain to make additional budget cuts may not be enough to compel the government in Madrid to bring its deficit in line with the 27- nation bloc’s rules next year.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | Gauging the financial tipping point
Despite the encouraging U.S. jobs-report data last week, the fiscal situation in the United States and most of the rest of the world continues to deteriorate.
Roll Call | House Democrats to Offer Up Budget
House Democrats, led by Budget ranking member Chris Van Hollen (Md.), are planning on releasing an alternative budget resolution to contrast their priorities with the Republicans.
WSJ | Euro-Zone Debt—Not All Toxic
Against what would appear to be insurmountable odds, and in the midst of a once-in-a-generation sovereign-debt debacle, the European corporate bond market is thriving. And according to industry experts, that is not at all surprising.
Fortune | Meredith Whitney was right
The more general point that Meredith Whitney was trying to make about public debt -- that municipal finances in this country were a mess that was only going to get messier -- was dead on.
Project Syndicate | Europe’s Trust Deficit
Of course, in all of these areas, the critics have a point. But none of these is the deficit that really matters. The deficit that prevents Europe from drawing a line under its crisis is a deficit of trust.
Blogs
The American | Sorry, but the Postal Service will need a bailout
Last week, I pointed out that the U.S. Postal Service is in danger of needing a taxpayer bailout. My post received a great deal of feedback in the comments section; unfortunately, many do not appreciate the nature or magnitude of the unfunded liabilities that the Postal Service has incurred since its inception, and where those unfunded future liabilities stand today.
The American | Surprise! Obama has a secret plan to deal with a catastrophic U.S. debt crisis. Here’s what might be in it
In May 2009, the president asked [White House budget director Peter Orszag] to draft a secret memo laying out the government’s options in the event of a fiscal crisis, in which a runaway deficit sent interest rates spiraling upward. No other member of the Obama economic team was even aware of the assignment.
