News
WSJ | Consumers Ramped Up Borrowing in January
Household borrowing through car loans, student loans, credit cards and other debt, excluding mortgages, rose at a seasonally adjusted 8.6% annual rate in January, the fourth straight month of rapid growth, according to Federal Reserve data out Wednesday.
USA Today | Consumer borrowing nearly at pre-recession levels
Consumer borrowing rose by $17.8 billion in January, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday. That followed similar gains in December and November.
CNN Money | Energy subsidies total $24 billion, most to renewables
The federal government spent $24 billion on energy subsidies in 2011, with the vast majority going to renewable energy sources, according to a government report.
Real Clear Markets | The Misleading Tale of Income Inequality
Although cries for redistribution by government echo in the press and among some politicians, by some measures economic inequality is no greater now than it was in the 1980s.
Bloomberg | German Industrial Output Rises More Than Forecast on Construction: Economy
Production (GRIPIMOM) rose 1.6 percent from December, when it fell 2.6 percent, which was the steepest decline in almost three years, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. Economists forecast a January increase of 1.1 percent
Politico | Ensuring food stamp integrity
Despite a rash of recent stories about food stamp fraud, the facts are that the Agriculture Department has a zero tolerance policy on this. We aggressively pursue those trying to take advantage of America’s compassion for people in need.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Post | Is China No. 1?
Does China already have the world’s largest economy? Most economists think not, and there’s a widespread guessing game as to when it will.
Washington Times | Cash for billionaires
Democrats are fond of playing the class-warfare card in calling for tax hikes on “millionaires and billionaires.” It’s their way of pretending to stand for the little guy.
MSN Money | Will home prices fall 20% more?
Ask the average guy on the street about things like European Central Bank support for Greece or the intricacies of the deficit debate in Washington, and watch his eyes glaze over.
Blogs
Library of Economics | The Bailouts and the Economy
Because the U.S. Treasury bailed out and backstopped banks, the U.S. unemployment rate was lower at the end of 2010 than it would have been without these measures.
CATO | Obama Fixes the Housing Market Again (and Helps the Troops)
Yesterday President Obama announced yet another set of programs intended to help the housing market. The majority of these are aimed at helping active service members of the military.
WSJ | Exports Make Up 10% of Economic Activity in Largest Metro Areas
Exports, which have been a bright spot throughout the economic recovery, account for about 1/10th of economic activity from the top 100 U.S. metro areas on average, according to this study by the Brookings Institution.
The American | No surprise: TARP bailout encouraged banks to make riskier loans
Here’s a handy rule of thumb: Bailouts lead to more bailouts. They encourage risky behavior by limiting downside. If some person or institution acts recklessly, don’t worry; Uncle Sucker will catch them if they fall. A new Fed study shows the the moral hazard issue came into play with banks that took TARP funds
Marginal Revolution | Some Economics of Pay What You Want Pricing
Imagine that under the pay-what-you-want model consumers choose to split their consumer-surplus with the seller. Here is a neat little proof for the linear demand case that under this heuristic profits are as large as under monopoly pricing!
The American | Harvard, we have a problem: Too many liberal arts majors
Rather than pushing students to attend a four-year, brick-and-mortar college in pursuit of the BA, how about business-backed training and apprenticeship programs leading to a high-skill technical degree just like in Germany and some other northern European nations?
