News
CNN Money | Bank of America's earnings win
Bank of America beat analysts' expectations for its second-quarter earnings Wednesday but missed revenue forecasts.
WSJ | Fed Dims View, Weighs Its Options
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered a bleak new assessment of the U.S. economy to lawmakers on Tuesday but remained guarded about what, if anything, the Fed would do about it.
CNN Money | More signs of a housing rebound
A recovery in home construction seems to be underway, with both housing starts and permits up in June year-over-year, according to a report released Wednesday by the Census Bureau.
Market Watch | New-home construction rises 6.9% in June
U.S. builders started construction on new homes in June at the fastest pace since fall 2008, though building permits fell, the government reported Wednesday.
Econ Comments & Analysis
AEI | Is the financial system stable without regulation?
In recent weeks, the Fed has been pressing the SEC to tighten the regulation of money market mutual funds (MMFs)-a step which surveys show could substantially reduce the value of this $2.6 trillion industry to corporate investors. But there is much more at stake in this controversy than the future of an industry.
WSJ | Asia Needs Economic Reform, Too
Asia has lost its economic stride. China's central bank has cut rates twice in quick succession, and Korea's central bank surprised with a rate cut last week.
Businessweek | The Last Years of America's Historic GDP Reign
If the International Monetary Fund is right, in a mere four years the U.S. will no longer be the world’s largest economy.
CNBC | Congress, Not the Fed, Needs to 'Get to Work'
The Senate Banking Committee’s grilling of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke just got weird.
Washington Times | Millennial mortgage shortage
Voters in the swing states are unemployed or underwater or both. The 2012 average home price in all-important Florida has fallen 48 percent off its peak and 61 percent of mortgage holders in Nevada are underwater.
WSJ | The Feds' New Mortgage Disclosures Are a Bust
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's "Mortgage Disclosure Team" just came out with two proposed forms that are supposed to make things easier for borrowers. It took CFPB a year and half of research, drafting and field testing to produce the new documents.
Politico | Investing in America produces the best return
The question I’m most often asked these days is, “Where should I invest?” In recent years, we all know, there has been an unusually high degree of uncertainty.
Blogs
Calculated Risk | First Look at 2013 Cost-Of-Living Adjustments and Maximum Contribution Base
The BLS reported this morning: "The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 1.6 percent over the last 12 months to an index level of 226.036 (1982-84=100). For the month, the index decreased 0.2 percent prior to seasonal adjustment."
Daily Finance | Oh, Canada! Americans' Northern Neighbors Are Now Richer
The U.S. may bill itself as the land of opportunity, but right now, Canadians are making out better.
CATO | Beyond Manufacturing
Yesterday, a World Trade Organization panel ruled that certain actions taken by China related to the processing of electronic payments (e.g., credit cards) violate WTO rules on trade in services.
Heritage Foundation | Obama Ends Welfare Reform as We Know It, Calls for $12.7 Trillion in New Welfare Spending
Last Thursday, the Obama Administration quietly issued new bureaucratic rules that overturned the popular welfare reform law of 1996. This was an illegal move, and it completely undoes years of progress that helped millions of Americans.
