News
Bloomberg | Banks That Flunked Servicing Tests Face Watchdog
Mortgage firms including Bank of America Corp. that repeatedly ignored rules meant to improve service for struggling homeowners said they’re on the verge of complying with standards ordered in a $25 billion settlement.
Market Watch | Consumer-confidence gauge rises to 7-month high
Led by expectations, a gauge of consumer confidence jumped up in September to the highest level in seven months, but remained relatively low, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.
CNN Money | IMF chief: 'We need a sustained rebound'
Policymakers around the world need to make good on promises and get it right this time, Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said in a speech Monday.
Market Watch | Housing stocks’ big run may slow despite good data
July’s Case-Shiller home-price index is released on Tuesday, as is the FHFA home-price index. Wednesday brings August’s new-home sales, while Thursday is August pending-home-sales day.
CNN Money | Postal Service to move closer to insolvency
At the end of this month, the U.S. Postal Service takes another step toward insolvency.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | The 10% President
A question raised by President Obama's immortal line on CBS's "60 Minutes" on Sunday—"I think that, you know, as President, I bear responsibility for everything, to some degree"—is what that degree really is. Maybe 70% or 80% of the buck stops with him? Or is it halfsies?
CNN Money | Goldman: Fed's QE3 could hit $2 trillion
The Federal Reserve's QE3 bond buying program announced earlier this month could last until the middle of 2015 and eventually reach $2 trillion, according to an estimate from economists at Goldman Sachs.
CATO | We Need to Reform Poorly Designed Entitlement Programs
Mitt Romney is getting criticized for his surreptitiously recorded remarks about 47 percent of voters automatically being Barack Obama supporters because they don't pay federal income tax and thus see themselves as beneficiaries of big government. I think Romney raised an important issue, but he used the wrong statistic and jumped to the wrong conclusion.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | President Obama: Wrong on Rhetoric, Wrong on Trade Policy
Trade policy is once again in the spotlight with President Obama’s announcement this week of a new suit against China in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Coordination Problem | Is Hayek's Argument for Liberal Government Incoherent?
I have been reading Stephen Elkin's Reconstructing the Commerical Republic (Chicago, 2006) and I find the book to be very challenging despite my ultimate disagreement with his criticisms of the classical liberal project as I envision it.
Heritage Foundation | FACT CHECK: Obama Misleads on Medicare, Taxes, and Regulations
During a Sunday evening interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” President Obama made numerous factually inaccurate or misleading claims.
Marginal Revolution | We are no longer in the short run
NGDP is almost 10 percent higher now than it was at the pre-crash peak. The number of people employed, even with population growth, is still below the pre-crash peak.
