News
Bloomberg | Manufacturing in U.S. Expanded at a Faster Pace in March
Manufacturing in the U.S. expanded at a faster pace than forecast in March, a sign the industry is weathering slower global growth.
CNN Money | 1.5 million card numbers at risk from hack
A data breach at a payments processing firm has potentially compromised up to 1.5 million credit and debit card numbers from all of the major card brands.
National Journal | New Data Suggest Growing Economic Optimism
Consumer confidence reached a yearly high in March, while new data showed individuals are spending more, suggesting growing economic optimism.
WSJ | Grim Data Cast Cloud Over Euro Zone
Dire figures on unemployment and manufacturing activity in the euro zone's weakest members on Monday highlighted the scale of the currency bloc's economic problems, just days after finance ministers boosted their bailout fund in a bid to fend off the debt crisis.
Bloomberg | Euro-Region Unemployment Surges to 14-Year High, Nears Record
Euro-region unemployment rose to the highest in more than 14 years and manufacturing contracted for an eighth month, adding to signs the economy probably slipped into a recession in the first quarter.
Bloomberg | Construction Spending in U.S. Unexpectedly Declined in February
Construction spending in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in February, reflecting broad-based declines that indicate the building industry will take time to stabilize.
Econ Comments & Analysis
AEI | 'Obamacare' for the financial industry
The best way to understand the Dodd-Frank Act is to think of it as Obamacare for the financial industry. Like its health care counterpart, it leaves the members of the massive financial services industry as privately owned firms, but blankets them with so much regulation that they are no longer really independent operators.
Washington Times | The housing market’s nonrecovery
Freddie Mac issued a report Wednesday claiming the housing market may be emerging from a long slump. The government-backed mortgage giant happily cited the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo confidence index, which is up for the fifth month in a row.
The Daily | The president’s green energy policies don’t add up
Speaking recently at America’s largest solar energy plant — in Boulder City, Nev. — President Obama insisted that green energy is so important, “You’d think that everybody would be supportive of solar power. And yet, if some politicians have their way, there won’t be any more public investment in solar energy.”
Forbes | The 'Long Run' Is Here: Let's Bury John Maynard Keynes
In an oft-repeated quote, John Maynard Keynes famously remarked that, “In the long run, we are all dead.” The only complication to this statement of course is recognizing when exactly death has occurred.
Reason | Forget About Income Inequality
What’s more, America remains a highly income-mobile society where poverty is a stage of life, not a way of life. There is no permanent underclass here.
Washington Post | Energy ‘independence,’ after all?
Amid election-year furor over high gasoline prices, something significant has happened to America’s energy outlook. We are steadily reducing our dependence on imported oil — a long-ago Nixon goal.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Income Inequality: Left Distorts the Facts, Again
Earlier this month, University of California economist Emmanuel Saez released his latest installment on income inequality. Predictably, the media is trumpeting its message without considering crucial facts.
Economist | China will overtake America within a decade. Want to bet?
For those of you who don’t know him, Mr Pettis is a finance professor at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management and a frequent blogger. He would like to bet that China’s dollar GDP (calculated at market exchange rates) will NOT surpass America’s in 2018.
Calculated Risk | Personal Saving Rate and Real Personal Income less Transfer Payments
By request, a couple more graphs based on the February Personal Income and Outlays report.
John B. Taylor | Policy Failure and the Great Recession
The debate about the causes of the financial crisis and the great recession will continue for many years, and the facts and analysis that Robert Hetzel put forth in his new book The Great Recession: Market Failure or Policy Failure? should now be part of that debate.
Calculated Risk | Schedule for Week of April 1st
The key report for this week will be the March employment report to be released on Friday, Apr 6th. Other key reports include the ISM manufacturing index on Monday, vehicle sales on Tuesday, and the ISM non-manufacturing (service) index on Wednesday. The FOMC minutes for the March meeting will be released on Tuesday.
Calculated Risk | Unofficial Problem Bank list declines to 948 Institutions
Here is the unofficial problem bank list for March 30, 2012.
