News
CNN Money | Housing recovery still sputters
The housing market continued to struggle in March, despite low home prices and record low interest rates, an industry report revealed Thursday.
Bloomberg | German Business Confidence Unexpectedly Increased
German business and investor confidence has beaten forecasts every month this year, suggesting the strength of Europe’s largest economy may have been underestimated.
CNN Money | Social Security, Medicare report card on tap
Critical to reining in the United States' long-term debt will be finding ways to control the burgeoning costs of Medicare and Social Security, both of which will face serious funding shortfalls over the next two decades.
Washington Times | Firm submits revised route for Keystone XL
Officials unveiled a new preferred route Thursday for the Nebraska portion of the stalled Keystone XL oil pipeline that avoids the state’s groundwater-rich Sandhills region and ratchets up the political pressure on President Obama over the project’s future.
WSJ | Economic Reports Fan Fears
Rising layoffs, falling home sales and slowing manufacturing activity are sparking fears that the economic recovery is headed for a springtime stall for the third year in a row.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | Financial Regulation Is Hurting New York
As I've campaigned around New York state over the past two months, one thing has become clear: Whether they work on farms or in financial institutions, New Yorkers everywhere are being crushed by federal regulation.
National Journal | IMF Chief Urges U.S. Mortgage Reform
The head of the International Monetary Fund on Thursday called for the U.S. government to enact widespread mortgage reform, urging that “the housing issue needs to be addressed forcefully and really steadily” to improve the U.S. economy.
WSJ | The EPA's Fracking Miracle
The Environmental Protection Agency once again invited itself to do tangible economic harm—this time to the hydraulic fracturing that is transforming American energy—and somehow . . . it didn't
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Morning Bell: What if Fannie and Freddie Were Eliminated?
For the past several years, it’s not been an uncommon sight in Anytown, USA, to drive down the street and see home after home for sale after going through foreclosure. They are the still-lingering hangover from the housing crash that began in 2007.
CATO | World Bank: Anti–Money Laundering Rules Hurt the Poor
I’ve complained many times about the pointless nature of anti–money laundering laws. They impose very high costs and force banks to spy on their customers, but they are utterly ineffective as a weapon against criminal activity. Yet politicians and bureaucrats keep making a bad system worse, and the latest development is a silly scheme to ban $100 bills!
The American | Looks like the housing bust has been even worse than you think
How much have U.S. house prices fallen since their peak in mid-2006? It depends on whether you measure them in nominal or inflation-adjusted terms. According to the S&P/Case-Shiller National House Price Index, the fall has been about 34 percent. That’s in nominal terms, and that’s a lot. But since inflation has continued, the fall in real terms is even bigger.
Neighborhood Effects | New Research on Freedom and Entrepreneurship
Here are a few findings from my recent paper with Joshua Hall and John Pulito titled “Freedom and Entrepreneurship: New Evidence from the 50 States”
