News
FOX Business | OPEC Output Hits Highest Level Since 2008, Survey Finds
OPEC output in May has hit its highest since 2008 as Saudi Arabia maintained high production rates despite a drop in prices and Iranian shipments did not fall substantially further ahead of an EU embargo, a Reuters survey found on Tuesday.
CNN Money | Postal Service offers $15,000 buyouts to 45,000 mail handlers
The U.S. Postal Service is offering buyouts to 45,000 mail handlers, part of the struggling agency's efforts to shed staff and cut costs.
Market Watch | Canadian bank’s stress-test pro talks Europe
What happens if the euro zone unravels, with Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain all leaving at the same time as political gridlock drives the U.S. off a fiscal cliff? What if China were no longer willing to fund the U.S. deficit and there was a dramatic 40% decline in the U.S. dollar?
CNN Money | Summer gas prices - as good as they'll get
As the summer driving season gets underway, most Americans are enjoying lower gas prices than they might have expected when the spring began.
Bloomberg | Greek Euro Exit Aftershocks Risk Reaching China
Greece, responsible for 0.4 percent of the world economy, now poses a threat to international prosperity as investors raise bets its days using the euro are numbered.
CNN Money | China paying billions for oil deals in the Americas
Eager to feed its growing energy appetite, China's worldwide buying binge for oil and other energy assets is spreading to North and South America.
FOX News | Home prices rise in most major US cities
Home prices rose in March from February in most major U.S. cities for the first time in seven months. The increase is the latest evidence of a slow recovery taking shape in the housing market.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | The Reagan Memo
Nearby today readers will notice excerpts from a memo written to Ronald Reagan by his economic advisers between his November 1980 election and inauguration. We share the memo because it shines a historical perspective on our own economic dilemmas as the Presidential race hits its Memorial Day turn.
NBER | The Evolution of Income, Consumption, and Leisure Inequality in The US, 1980-2010
Recent research has documented that income inequality in the United States has increased dramatically over the prior three decades. There has been less of a consensus, however, on whether the increase in income inequality was matched by an equally large increase in consumption inequality.
CBO | Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output from January 2012 Through March 2012
As required by law, CBO prepares regular reports on its estimate of the number of jobs created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which was enacted in response to significant weakness in the economy. In its latest report issued this afternoon, CBO provides estimates of ARRA’s impact on employment and economic output in the first quarter of calendar year 2012, as well as over the entire period since February 2009.
Blogs
CATO | New Study from UK Think Tank Shows How Big Government Undermines Prosperity
It seems I was put on the planet to educate people about the negative economic impact of excessive government. I must be doing a bad job, because the burden of the public sector keeps rising.
Calculated Risk | Unofficial Problem Bank list increases to 931 Institutions
As expected, this week the FDIC released the Official Problem Bank List through March 2012 and it enforcement actions through April 2012. For the week, there were nine removals and 12 additions
WSJ | More Economists React: What if Greece Exits Euro Zone?
Greece may or may not leave, and there’s a huge range of potential policy responses. So, making allowances for some guesswork, from U.S. political upheaval to a knock-on effect for Mexican bonds, here’s a rundown of the latest on some economists’ and analysts’ views on what could happen next.
Calculated Risk | Schedule for Week of May 27th
The key report this week is the May employment report to be released on Friday.
