News
Bloomberg | Manufacturing in Philadelphia Area Falls for Third Month
Manufacturing in the Philadelphia region shrank for the third consecutive month as new orders and employment declined.
Market Watch | Leading economic index falls 0.3% in June
The index of leading economic indicators fell 0.3% in June to 95.6, mostly reversing the increase in May, the Conference Board reported Thursday.
Bloomberg | Americans Hold Dimmest View on Economic Outlook Since January
The most Americans in six months said the economy in July was getting worse, indicating the slowdown in hiring is dimming moods as the third quarter begins.
WSJ | Housing Stirs, but Economy Slows
A report Wednesday showed builders broke ground for more new homes in June than in any month in nearly four years. But the upturn comes as several other pockets of relative strength for the economy have wavered. Consumer spending is sputtering, manufacturing growth has slowed, and businesses have grown cautious about splurging on new machines and computers.
Market Watch | More Fed districts report slowdown: Beige Book
The U.S. grew at a “modest to moderate” pace over the last month and a half as more districts are reporting slowing growth, according to the latest survey of anecdotes on the economy released by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.
CNN Money | U.S. missing out on Arctic land grab
There's an international race to divvy up the Arctic Ocean's oil and mineral bounty, but the United States could lose out on a big chunk of it because it hasn't signed a United Nations treaty governing the area.
WSJ | Spain Economy Shows More Strains
Spain's housing and banking sectors deteriorated further, government data showed Wednesday, in the latest indication that the country's economy is in a protracted recession.
Market Watch | Sales of existing homes drop 5.4% in June
Sales of existing homes in June fell to the slowest pace since October, a decline that goes against the grain of more positive indicators from the housing market and one which a trade group on Thursday blamed on foreclosure delays and tough mortgage availability.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Politico | Closing America’s opportunity gap
Important ideological differences divide Republicans and Democrats on many issues, but there is one tenet of American life that should prompt bipartisan action: ensuring that all people — regardless of class, race, ethnicity, gender or ZIP code — have opportunities to rise as far as talent and hard work can take them.
Real Clear Markets | Americans Resort to Plastic Safety Nets
Americans are starting to borrow once again, they're doing so at an unexpectedly high level, but it's for all the wrong reasons.
Politico | Obama encouraging Americans to get on welfare
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius last week issued an order giving the Obama administration greater authority to waive work requirements included in the 1998 welfare reform law. This comes on top of a new ad campaign, using Spanish-language soap operas, to encourage more Latinos to sign up for food stamps.
Forbes | You're Wrong President Obama, Howard Johnson Built His Business
Over the weekend, President Obama sent a message to all American entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs. The message was, “Nothing special about you!”
Real Clear Markets | The War On Women Is an Economic Outrage
When the press writes about the "war on women," they generally mean the unavailability of free contraceptive services and denial of access to abortions. Or, they discuss pay equity, or discrimination in hiring and promotion.
Atlantic | The $5 Trillion Stash: US Corporations' Money Hoard Is Bigger Than the GDP of Germany
You can't blame corporations for wanting a security blanket during the past few years, what with the world economy always seeming one more pointless Congressional showdown or odd European election away from catastrophe. But as Reuters' David Cay Johnston points out this week, American companies may be hoarding more cash than most of us had previously realized -- about $5 trillion worth, as of 2009.
Daily Caller | The remarkable story of Chile’s economic renaissance
Thirty years ago, Chile was a basket case. A socialist government in the 1970s had crippled the economy and destabilized society, leading to civil unrest and a military coup. Given the dismal situation, it’s no surprise that Chile’s economy was moribund and other Latin American countries, such as Mexico, Venezuela, and Argentina, had about twice as much per-capita economic output.
Real Clear Markets | Are Pollution Controls Worth Their Costs?
A recent wave of government regulations mandates the energy efficiency levels of a wide range of consumer and business products, including passenger cars and commercial vehicles, clothes dryers, air conditioners, and light bulbs.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Family Fact of the Week: How Welfare Reform Helped Families
The best anti-poverty program is a job. That was the mantra of the 1996 welfare reform, which changed the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program into the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, for the first time requiring able-bodied welfare recipients to work or prepare for work in order to receive government assistance.
Political Calculations | Barack Obama: Crony Capitalist in Chief? Part 1
President Obama opened a controversy when he made the following comments during a campaign stop at a fire station in Roanoke, Virginia
Library of Economics | Markets Don't Ration
I am one of those economists who has often claimed "where there is scarcity there must be rationing and that the most efficient way to ration is by price." But Sheldon Richman's article has talked me out of that on both grounds: it is factually wrong and strategically ill-advised.
Calculated Risk | Housing Starts increased to 760 thousand in June, Highest since October 2008
Privately-owned housing starts in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 760,000. This is 6.9 percent above the revised May estimate of 711,000 and is 23.6 percent above the June 2011 rate of 615,000.
The Hill | Rep. Black: Obama shows he's 'clueless' on job creation with 'you didn't build that' remark
Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) called President Obama "clueless" on Wednesday morning for his weekend suggestion that people who started their own businesses "didn't build that," and instead had help from others.
Daily Finance | Double-Dip Recession Hits Eurozone as Crisis Clouds Swirl
The eurozone has sunk back into its second recession since 2009, a Reuters poll predicted on Thursday, as the debt crisis that has ravaged the continent for over two years continues to stifle growth.
