News
CNN Money | 10 most entrepreneurial states
Opening up a small business in a tough economy is a risky gamble. But these 10 states saw more startup activity than anywhere else nationwide, according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity. Here's why.
WSJ | Foreigners Snap Up Properties in the U.S.
The six-year slide in U.S. home prices and the dollar's weakness against some currencies are driving a property-buying binge by Asians, Canadians, Europeans and Latin Americans eager to own a piece of America.
CNN Money | Living on food stamps in middle-class suburbia
Since the recession, persistent unemployment has left middle-class life out of reach for millions of Americans.
Market Watch | U.S. import prices tumble 1% in May
U.S. import prices dropped 1% in May, the biggest one-month drop since June 2010, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Prices for U.S. imports also decreased over the past 12 months, falling 0.3%, the first year-over-year decline since October 2009. Fuel prices tumbled 4.2%, while nonfuel imports edged down 0.1%.
WSJ | Counting on an Inheritance? Count Again.
For years now, there's been a lot of talk about boomers getting tremendous windfalls as their parents pass on. Many boomers, in fact, have been lagging behind in their savings, betting on—hoping for—big bequests, especially since many of them suffered big losses in 2008.
National Journal | Three Iron Truths of the (Not-Fine) Recovery
The U.S. economy is not doing fine. Not in the private sector, and especially not in the public sector. President Obama was wrong to say otherwise – that the private sector is fine – last week. Mitt Romney was wrong to suggest laying off teachers and firefighters hasn’t hurt.
CNN Money | Retirement age must rise - OECD
As life expectancy continues to rise, a new report suggests that governments need to raise the age of retirement in order to keep up.
Market Watch | Recession crushed middle-class wealth: Fed survey
The recession crushed the net worth of middle-class families as real estate values tumbled, according to a survey released by the Federal Reserve on Monday.
CNN Money | Euro crisis: It's still not over
Spain officially requested a bailout for the nation's banks Saturday but euphoria about the weekend's announcement was short-lived.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Investors | Obama's Politics Are More Insidious Than Socialism
What President Obama has been pushing for, and moving toward, is more insidious: government control of the economy, while leaving ownership in private hands. That way, politicians get to call the shots but, when their bright ideas lead to disaster, they can always blame those who own businesses in the private sector.
Politico | Study: Lobbying bad for business?
In a surprising finding, a new study shows that massive lobbying in D.C. and campaign donations by corporations are linked with worse market performance.
Washington Times | Obama’s ‘fine’ economy
President Obama told the American people Friday that he believes “the private sector is doing fine.” The astounding statement reverberated from the White House Briefing Room, and the negative reaction was intense.
WSJ | The Next Step for Europe Is Financial Union
The crisis has shown that Europe's economic and monetary union is incomplete: The single currency needs to be supported by a financial union. Our banks today are euro-zone banks—not German, Spanish or French banks. They can borrow from the European Central Bank anywhere; they can lend to any euro-area citizen or firm. Depositors can easily shift money from one country to another.
Heritage Foundation | A Housing Market Without Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Effect on the Homeownership Rate
This study analyzes the impact of affordable lending efforts by government-sponsored entities (GSEs) on national homeownership rate, by race, ethnic group, and census region.
Blogs
Café Hayek | In a complex system, bias reigns
Step back for a minute and consider the challenge of measuring the impact of the stimulus. It is one of many things that happened between February 2009 and the end of 2010.
National Review | Did the Stimulus Work?
“Yes it has, and yes, it does!” says E. J. Dionne Jr. in the Washington Post. The evidence: Almost all economists agree that it did. That’s him
Calculated Risk | NFIB: Small Business Optimism Index "Stagnates" in May
Dropping just a tenth-of-a-point in the month of May, the Nation Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Index of Small Business Optimism came in at 94.4.
National Review | Cronyism, American Style
This is a good piece by economist Luigi Zingales about cronyism– the practice of using government to deliver favors to your friends in the business world — in Italy and what Americans can learn from it. From his account it sounds like cronyism is the driving force behind the Italian job market
The American | Doing fine: Sales growth at U.S. companies falls to lowest point since financial crisis
The U.S. economy may not be in a recession. And the private sector may be doing better than the public sector. But economic growth is nowhere near what it should be.
