News
WSJ | Data Deepen Spanish Gloom
Spain's economy contracted for the second consecutive quarter in a row in the first quarter of the year confirming that technical recession has taken hold in the country as it braces for a week of anti-austerity protests.
CNN Money | Spain falls into recession
Spain has fallen into its second recession since 2009 as its economy shrank for the second consecutive quarter, according to a government report Monday.
Bloomber | Consumer Spending in U.S. Increases as Incomes Rise
Consumer spending in the U.S. climbed in March after the biggest gain since August 2009, and incomes picked up, indicating the biggest part of the economy will help sustain the expansion.
WSJ | Housing Ends Slide but Faces a Long Bottom
Nearly six years after home prices started falling, more U.S. housing markets appear to be nearing a new phase: a prolonged bottom.
CNN Money | U.S. 'dirty oil' imports set to triple
U.S. imports of what environmentalists are calling "dirty oil" are set to triple over the next decade, raising concerns over the environmental impact of extracting it and whether pipelines can safely transport this Canadian oil.
WSJ | Slowing Growth Stirs Recovery Fears
The economy lost steam in the first quarter, as onetime engines of growth sputtered and robust consumer spending was unable to propel the recovery on its own.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | How Big Banks Threaten Our Economy
As of this past January, any bank operating in the United States with more than $50 billion in assets must have the business equivalent of a living will—plans for what to do in the event of catastrophe. Every well-managed business should have contingencies and ways to assess its health and viability. But the fact that the Dodd-Frank financial regulations require the largest banks to submit detailed plans for worst-case scenarios suggests something is seriously amiss.
Washington Times | Obama keeps poor in their place
President Obama revived his Buffett-rule talking points on how raising taxes on the wealthy will restore the middle class. Actions mean more than such empty rhetoric. The president speaks of supporting fairness, but some of his actions actually favor the wealthy over lower-income earners.
WSJ | Chile's Cautionary Lesson for Americans
Communists are not taking over Chile. But you wouldn't know it from watching the media frenzy surrounding 23-year-old student leader and avowed communist Camila Vallejo in Santiago.
Real Clear Markets | If I Wanted America to Fail: Free Market Agitprop With a Lesson
A powerful YouTube video essay that premiered on Earth Day has since gone viral. I first saw it when it cracked 100,000 views. At last count, over 1.7 million people have seen it, a number that grows daily. It started out being passed along by conservative Americans but has begun spreading into wider circles.
WSJ | The Growth Deficit
The weakest recovery on record continued in 2012's first quarter, with the Commerce Department's Friday report of 2.2% growth. That's down from 3% at the end of last year, but closer to the 1.7% for all of 2011. It's enough to give the word recovery a bad name.
Forbes | Obama's Plan To Seize Control Of Our Economy And Our Lives
President Obama has made clear that he’s determined to continue pushing his “progressive” agenda, regardless of constitutional limitations on his power. He aims to have his way by issuing more and more executive orders.
Reason Foundation | How Big Government Is Killing California
The new USC study pointing to a much-slower population growth rate in California has been greeted by demographers and urban planners as good news, in that it supposedly gives our state’s leaders a little breathing room to plan better for the future. The rate of growth has slowed to about 1 percent a year, the result of fewer immigrants coming here and so many Californians heading to other states.
Wharton School of Business | Optimism Is Up, but the U.S. Housing Market Faces a Painful Shift
It's spring, the time when Americans traditionally think about new homes -- trading up for growing families, downsizing for retirees, picking up a vacation home or buying a starter home to escape renting.
Washington Times | The cost of a collapsing Europe
The erosion of the Schengen Agreement, which permitted free movement within the EU, is an important indicator of how far the political situation has deteriorated.
Blogs
Calculated Risk | Schedule for Week of April 29th
The key report for this week will be the April employment report to be released on Friday, May 4th. Other key reports include the ISM manufacturing index and vehicle sales on Tuesday, and the ISM non-manufacturing (service) index on Thursday.
Political Calculations | A First Look at Where GDP Will Be in 2012-Q2
On 2 April 2012, we forecast that the U.S.' real GDP for the first quarter of 2012 would be $13,508.2 billion in terms of constant 2005 U.S. dollars. This value represents the midpoint of our projected forecast range for where GDP in 2012-Q1 would most likely be recorded.
Library of Economics | The Bottom One Percent
There are about 313 million people in America today. 1% of 313 million is 3,130,000. In our prisons today are 2,200,000 people. So the people in prison are 2/3 of one percent. And their wages are typically about 23 cents an hour. They are, essentially, the bottom 1%.
Calculated Risk | Recovery Measures
By request, here is an update to four key indicators used by the NBER for business cycle dating: GDP, Employment, Industrial production and real personal income less transfer payments.
Marginal Revolution | The Big Easy’s School Revolution
The population of New Orleans changed pre and post-Katrina so it’s difficult to compare pre and post-Katrina test scores; although given the state of the schools pre-Katrina it’s hard to believe that the schools have not greatly improved.
Calculated Risk | Unofficial Problem Bank list declines to 930 Institutions
Very busy week for the Unofficial Problem Bank List because of failures and the FDIC releasing its enforcement actions through March.
WSJ | Economists React: GDP Is ‘Disappointing but Also Puzzling’
Economists and others weigh in on the 2.2% increase in U.S. gross domestic product in the first quarter.
