News
WSJ | China Posts Massive Trade Deficit
China swung to a massive trade deficit in February, due partly to seasonal distortions but also to faltering demand for the country's exports.
CNN Money | Gas prices top $3.80 a gallon
The national average price for a gallon of gasoline rose above the $3.80 mark Monday, resuming the advance that has plagued drivers throughout the winter.
USA Today | Trade deficit hits 3-year record imbalance
The U.S. trade deficit surged to the widest imbalance in more than three years in January as imports hit an all-time high, reflecting big demand for foreign-made cars, computers and food products.
WSJ | Portugal's Economic Ills Deepen
Portugal's economy continued to contract in the final three months of 2011, the country's statistics agency said Friday, as austerity measures hit domestic demand and the euro-zone crisis slowed exports.
USA Today | Poll: Most rich Americans say U.S. still in recession
Wealthier Americans aren't very optimistic about the economic recovery, with a surprising 63% saying the United States is still in a recession, according to a new poll.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | A Look at the Global One Percent
While the Occupy Wall Street movement may be waning, the perception of growing income inequality in America is not
Bloomberg | Financial Repression Has Come Back to Stay
As they have before in the aftermath of financial crises or wars, governments and central banks are increasingly resorting to a form of “taxation” that helps liquidate the huge overhang of public and private debt and eases the burden of servicing that debt.
Washington Post | Japan’s lost decades — and ours?
Since the financial crisis, a shadow has hovered over the U.S. economy: Japan. Could what happened there happen to us?
Washington Times | Global slowdown
The global scope of the economic downturn is now official. On Monday, China cut its economic-growth expectation to 7.5 percent, down from the lofty 8 percent level where it has been since 2005
Real Clear Markets | The Misleading Tale of Income Inequality
President Obama has proposed $1.7 trillion in tax increases over the next decade.
Business Week | Student Loan Delinquencies Are Worse Than You Think
Students may be struggling with debt more than we knew, according to a team of five researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Reason Foundation | Adam Smith vs. Crony Capitalism
I admit it: I like Adam Smith. His perceptiveness never fails to impress. True, he didn’t foresee the marginal revolution that Carl Menger would launch a century later (with, less significantly in my view, Jevons and Walras), but give the guy a break. The Wealth of Nations is a great piece of work.
Blogs
Calculated Risk | Unofficial Problem Bank list declines to 956 Institutions
This is an unofficial list of Problem Banks compiled only from public sources.
Keith Hennessey | In America power and fuel are separate issues
Policies that affect oil, gasoline, ethanol and biodiesel, hybrid vehicles, battery technology, and vehicle fuel efficiency can all directly and significantly affect the price of transportation fuel (although often quite gradually).
National Review | Why Would Anyone be Against the Export-Import Bank?
U.S. exports have been a rare bright spot in an otherwise sluggish economy, increasing by about 20 percent over the last two years and driving about half of all economic growth.
Calculated Risk | Schedule for Week of March 11th
Retail sales for February is the key report this week. For manufacturing, the March NY Fed (Empire state) and Philly Fed surveys will be released on Thursday, and the February Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization report will be released on Friday.
The American | The incredible revival of U.S. manufacturing? Credit trade and energy
The post-Great Recession revival of U.S. manufacturing has given the economy a much-needed boost during the Not-So-Great Recovery. Some great factoids and observation from economist Jim Glassman at JPMorgan
National Review | Income Mobility and Education Reform
Last week, the Wall Street Journal had a disheartening editorial about the attempts in California to undermine the “parent trigger” reform implemented a few years ago as a response to the abysmal record of some of the state’s public schools.
