News
WSJ | Shutdown Is Unlikely; Fiscal Cliff Still a Risk
Congress appears on track to avert a politically perilous fight over a government shutdown, but the top House Republican said Tuesday he has little confidence that lawmakers will be able to prevent an economically damaging combination of tax increases and spending cuts due to take effect in the new year.
Politico | Hill ignores fiscal cliff warnings
Farm bureaus, financial credit rating agencies, Wall Street, the defense industry, chambers of commerce and postal groups have all sounded the alarm bell warning D.C. about all manner of debt, spending and tax crises. They’ve largely failed to spur the action they were seeking.
Econ Comments & Analysis
CATO | Has the ECB Provided the Missing Piece to Resolve the EU Debt Crisis?
On September 6, Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), announced that the ECB would engage in unlimited secondary market purchases of government bonds of member countries adhering to the policy conditions agreed to with the IMF and EU (and thus qualified to borrow from the European Financial Stabilization Fund — EFSF — or the European Stabilization Mechanism — ESM) to the extent needed to promote the efficient transmission of monetary policy throughout the Euro area.
Heritage Foundation | Excess Spending Seen as Greatest Threat to Economic Freedom in Europe
Europe’s continuing failure to remedy massive government over-spending and indebtedness remains the principal threat to its economic freedom, according to Heritage Foundation Research Fellow James Roberts.
Blogs
Market Watch | Republican leader says he’s not sure ‘fiscal cliff’ can be avoided
Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, on Tuesday said he’s not sure Congress and President Obama can reach a deal to avoid a so-called fiscal cliff that could damage the U.S. economy. Higher taxes and deep cuts in federal spending are slated to take effect on Jan. 1 unless Democrats and Republicans agree to change current law. The defense budget would be especially hard hit.
Heritage Foundation | U.S. Budget Deficit for Fiscal Year 2012 Already at $1 Trillion
The federal budget is reaching benchmarks of astronomical proportions. Hold your applause, though; the budget trends are increasingly headed in the wrong direction.
