News
Bloomberg | U.S. Consumers Proving Old Faithful for Asia Exporters: Economy
Three years after the global recession blamed in part on debt-fueled U.S. consumption and insufficient Asian spending, Asia’s top three exporters are again finding American consumers a boon as their economies slow.
Washington Times | Has U.S. economy bottomed out? Census suggests yes
The U.S. economy is showing signs of finally bottoming out: Americans are on the move again after record numbers had stayed put, more young adults are leaving their parents’ homes to take a chance with college or the job market, once-sharp declines in births are leveling off and poverty is slowing.
CNN Money | Mortgage rates at record low again
Mortgage rates fell to record low levels once again last week, as the Federal Reserve's decision to buy billions in home loans for the foreseeable future helped bring lending costs down for home buyers and owners.
Market Watch | Forces of factory decline trump Fed’s easy money
As factories around the world slow the machinery of production, central banks are putting their foot to the floor in an effort to pull the economy forward.
USA Today | Families have run companies for 100-plus years
Carl Heimerdinger says it isn't uncommon for customers to bring scissors in for sharpening at his family's retail cutlery shop that were purchased there decades ago, by a parent or grandparent.
CNN Money | Mississippi has highest poverty and lowest income
Mississippi once again leads the nation in poverty and lags in median household income.
Washington Times | Rate on 30-year mortgage falls to record 3.49 percent
The average U.S. rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage touched its record low this week and the rate on 15-year mortgage hit a new record.
WSJ | Neighborhoods Confer Health, but Not Wealth
Moving low-income families out of poor neighborhoods doesn't help the families escape poverty, according to a new study, but it does make them healthier and happier.
Econ Comments & Analysis
CRS | U.S. Implementation of the Basel Capital Regulatory Framework
The Basel III international regulatory framework, which was produced in 2010 by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision at the Bank for International Settlements, is the latest in a series of evolving agreements among central banks and bank supervisory authorities to standardize bank capital requirements, among other measures.
Washington Times | ‘Global Frackdown’ risks power smackdown
American energy independence ought to be a no-brainer. The recent Middle East unrest underscores the need for minimizing U.S. reliance on foreign sources to power the nation. Obama administration efforts to block access to domestic fossil fuels ensures our future is taken hostage by unfriendly oil lords.
WSJ | In the Money-Market for More Oversight
Four years ago this week, amid the financial crisis, the U.S. Treasury Department took the unprecedented step of putting taxpayer dollars on the line to stop a run on money-market funds. That run exacerbated the crisis and helped spread its harmful effects from Wall Street to Main Street.
Washington Times | Fighting Obama’s attack on welfare reform
Add undermining welfare reform to the list of President Obama’s run-ins with the inconvenience of Article 1 of the Constitution — right alongside the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate, the war in Libya, recess appointments and a Department of Homeland Security memo declining to enforce immigration law.
Real Clear Markets | Disappointing Income and Poverty Numbers: What's Wrong With the Story?
Once a year the Census Bureau publishes estimates of the number of poor under the official poverty definition. At the same time, it releases estimates of the trend and distribution of income as well as health insurance coverage.
Project Syndicate | The Narrative Structure of Global Weakening
Recent indications of a weakening global economy have led many people to wonder how pervasive poor economic performance will be in the coming years. Are we facing a long global slump, or possibly even a depression?
WSJ | Time for 'Government Motors' to Hit the Road
The Treasury Department should sell every last share that it owns of General Motors—as quickly as possible.
Blogs
AEI | A just society isn’t necessarily an equal one
Income inequality is a deeply contested issue in the United States today, thrust into the spotlight by the Occupy Wall Street movement’s protests against “the top one percent.” Is our national wealth improperly concentrated in the hands of a privileged few?
Economist | Restructuring structural reforms
In the euro crisis Germany has taken on the role of stern schoolmaster having to deal with a particularly recalcitrant class in southern Europe and Ireland, which must “do their homework”.
AEI | The worst recession since the…
That the nation has suffered “the worst recession since the Great Depression” has become a nifty political cliché.
Economist | You built that, but why?
A colleague and I were talking the other day about the frustration with the Obama presidency among CEOs and other business big shots.
