News
Washington Times | 30-year mortgage rate falls to record 3.75 percent
Average U.S. rates on 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages dropped to record lows again this week, with the 15-year loan dipping below 3 percent for the first time ever.
Bloomebrg | Global Growth Heads for Lull as Europe Output Shrinks
The world economy is heading for its third straight mid-year lull after manufacturing output shrank in Europe and slowed in China, leaving the U.S. under pressure to drive global growth.
WSJ | Student Debt Rises by 8% as College Tuitions Climb
Americans are borrowing more to pay for college while reducing other debt as a weak job market prompts more people to go to school and tuition keeps climbing, new Federal Reserve Bank of New York data show.
CNN Money | 10-year yield hits record low (again!)
The yield dropped to 1.58% Thursday, down from from Wednesday's record low close of 1.62%. Investors have been flocking to bonds in both the U.S. and overseas as Europe's debt crisis and a slowing U.S. economy has investors on edge.
Politico | Environmental activists attack crop insurance industry
Armed with new data and an old playbook, environmentalists are taking aim at the crop insurance industry, seeking to bolster the case for a cap on premium subsidies when the Senate farm bill hits the floor in June.
CNN Money | Federal government unloads real estate
The federal government, the nation's top property owner, said Thursday that it is on track to save $8 billion by the end of the fiscal year by consolidating its real estate holdings and selling off the excess.
WSJ | Asia Strains Under Euro Crisis
The economies of Asia, both the emerging markets and the more developed countries, are being hit by a double whammy of slowing domestic growth and the impact of the European debt crisis on Asian exports and finance.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | John Taylor: Rules for America's Road to Recovery
America's economic future is increasingly uncertain. In my view, unpredictable economic policy—massive fiscal "stimulus" and ballooning debt, the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing with multiyear near-zero interest rates, and regulatory uncertainty due to ObamaCare and the Dodd-Frank financial reforms—is the main cause of persistent high unemployment and our feeble recovery from the recession.
Washington Times | Obama’s economic myopia
The government says the economy is weakening yet again and unemployment claims are rising, but President Obama is going about business as usual.
AEI | Too big for comfort
America needs to break up its biggest banks, but not for reasons likely to give a tingle to Occupy Wall Street’s remnant rabble (or its Great Everywhere Spirit, Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts). This isn’t about some political exercise in election-year demonization.
Market Watch | U.S. savings rate drops to four-year low in April
The savings rate for U.S. households slipped in April to match its lowest level in four years as spending grew faster than incomes, the Commerce Department estimated Friday.
WSJ | Bank-Bailout Lessons
In Europe's endless crisis, the latest focus is Spain's banks. Some €31 billion in deposits fled Spanish lenders in April, the second largest monthly capital flight from Spain in the euro era.
Heritage Foundation | Ten Actions Congress Can Take to Lower Gas Prices
Heritage Foundation energy policy analyst Nicolas Loris suggests there are at least 10 actions that Congress can take to remove barriers to oil production and supply, and to stimulate economic growth and job creation in both the near and long term.
Blogs
Economist | Third time unlucky
The story of the American recovery is one of constant disappointment: two steps taken forward, followed inevitably by one step back. After a return to job growth in early 2010, trouble from Europe dampened American expectations and led to a summer swoon, to which the Federal Reserve ultimately responded with more monetary easing.
Minyanville | When Will the Economy Recover?
Anyone can hold their breath for a minute when they’re 10 feet underwater, yet a person will drown in six inches of water if he’s face-down long enough. The same can be said of our current economic climate; it’s not the depth of the recession that matters, it’s the length.
Think Markets | Euro Crisis from Long Perspective
The European crisis, in progress for years and still showing no sign of resolution, is largely the result of elite hubris.
WSJ | U.S. Savings Rate Falling Amid Stagnant Incomes
The government made a sharp downward revision to fourth-quarter income figures Thursday, a sign of stagnant wages and a potential hurdle for consumer spending.
