News
Market Watch | Current account deficit widens in fourth quarter
The U.S. current account deficit, which is the combined balances on trade in goods and services, income, and donations, widened to $124.1 billion in the fourth quarter, or 3.2% of gross domestic product, from a downwardly revised $107.6 billion in the third quarter.
Bloomberg | Jobs Recovery Revives U.S. Furniture Sales as Home Market Heals
More Americans are stretching out on new sofas as they settle into recently purchased homes, amid an improving outlook for employment.
Market Watch | Investment opportunities as housing improves
The housing market the U.S. is showing some signs of recovery and if the trend continues, investors will be looking for opportunities.
CNN Money | Sabine Pass natural gas plant, the next 'Keystone'
At the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico along the Texas-Louisiana border, Cheniere Energy could be just weeks away from breaking ground on the first natural gas exporting facility ever built in the lower 48 states.
WSJ | Despite U.S. Pressure, China Stands Firm on Trade
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao suggested that China sees little room to accommodate Washington's trade demands, despite coming under additional pressure as U.S. election-year rhetoric heats up.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Politico | GAO: DOE needs consolidated loan guarantee tracking system
The Energy Department needs to establish a one-stop shop for tracking its loan guarantee applications and awardees, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Monday.
WSJ | The Bill for ObamaLoans
Speaking of March Madness, the annual college basketball tourney has nothing on college financing. A recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has the disturbing details for taxpayers.
Investors | California: The Sick Man Of America
"You can check out any time you like," the Eagles said of California, "but you can never leave." Somebody forgot to tell businesses. They keep leaving the Golden State in growing numbers.
NBER | International Capital Flows and House Prices: Theory and Evidence
The last fifteen years have been marked by a dramatic boom-bust cycle in real estate prices, accompanied by economically large fluctuations in international capital flows.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Red Tape Ties Up Industrial Base
Goure argues that, in its effort to promote competition, the Pentagon has actually convoluted its system and potentially weakened the defense industrial base. Frequent changes to regulations make it difficult for companies to take advantage of economies of scale, as they must continually adapt to new requirements.
CATO | Trade Policy Lessons in WTO Challenge of China’s Rare Earth Restrictions
This morning the Obama administration lodged an official complaint with the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body over China’s ongoing restrictions of exports of “Rare Earth” minerals.
Library of Economics | Property Rights ARE Human Rights
One of the left's most effective canards has been its alleged distinction between property rights and human rights. The fact is that property rights are human rights. My right to my computer--my property--is not my computer's right to itself. It's my right, and I'm human.
CATO | CBO Perpetuates Small Business Administration Myth
A new brief from the Congressional Budget Office discusses the role of small businesses in the economy and how they’re affected by federal policy. The CBO cites the Small Business Administration as one example of how federal policy favors small businesses over larger businesses
Marginal Revolution | What is up with the gdp-less recovery?
Robert Gordon, a Northwestern University professor who tracks productivity closely, says he sees “clear signs everywhere” that a productivity slowdown is happening. Last year, productivity—measured as the output of workers for every hour they work—grew just 0.4% and has grown at a 0.9% annual rate over the past seven quarters.
