News
Market Watch | U.S. housing starts advance 2.3% in August
The housing market showed little evidence of retreat in August despite a slower U.S. economy as construction on new homes rose by 2.3%.
WSJ | Mortgage Loans Hit 16-Year Low as Standards Tighten
Mortgage lending declined to its lowest level in 16 years in 2011 amid weak demand for mortgages and tighter lending standards, according to a report released by federal regulators Tuesday.
Market Watch | Home-builder optimism hits 6-year high
Optimism among the nation’s home builders climbed in September for the fifth straight month to reach the highest level in more than six years, according to a closely followed index released Tuesday.
FOX News | 1st tidal power delivered to US power grid off Maine
A tidal power project is delivering electricity to the U.S. power grid for the first time, energy officials said Thursday.
Econ Comments & Analysis
CATO | Still a Protectionist Trade Remedy: The Case for Repealing Section 337
Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 gives the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) the power to exclude products from the United States that are imported pursuant to "unfair methods of competition."
AEI | FHA Watch, September 2012
One in six Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans continued to be delinquent in August as the total delinquency rate eased slightly to 16.35 percent. This was due to modest declines across all delinquency categories.
Minyanville | Random Thoughts: When Did Recession Become Public Enemy Number One?
I was listening to Dick Fisher and the folks on CNBC this morning discuss the importance of avoiding another—GASP!—recession.
WSJ | The U.S. Needs More i-Side Economics
No jobs? No wonder, given what passes for economic thought these days.
Washington Times | America in free-fall
The annual Economic Freedom of the World report, including an index of country rankings, has just been released, and it should be a wake-up call.
Real Clear Markets | Lax Rules Author Spike In Food Stamp Usage
Last week, the Census Bureau announced American real household income declined in 2011. That's the second year in a row.
Businessweek | Here Comes the Big Manufacturing Slowdown
For the second straight month, manufacturing activity in the New York region slowed, this time to the lowest level since April 2009, during the worst of the global recession.
Washington Times | Costco tale highlights private-sector success
At the Democratic National Convention, Costco co-founder and former CEO Jim Sinegal provided his endorsement of President Obama.
CATO | America's Vanishing Economic Freedom
The 2012 Economic Freedom of the World report was releasedthis week by the Cato Institute and Canada’s Fraser Institute, and it showed that the United States has plummeted to 18th place in the ranked list, trailing such countries as Estonia, Taiwan, and Qatar.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Morning Bell: Government Dependency Rises As Number of Taxpayers Declines
The leak of a video featuring former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) has sparked debate about government dependency and the number of people in the United States who do not pay federal income tax.
FOX Business | Our Entitlement Nation
Outrage today on the left about remarks Mitt Romney made four months ago about our entitlement nation. But to be clear on the facts, Mitt is right.
Daily Capitalist | Economic Freedom: The U.S. Is Slipping
The United States was known as the bastion of economic freedom for more than two centuries, and it was because of its economic freedom that the nation became the pre-eminent economic power. However, in just a few short years, the U.S. has fallen from No. 3 in 2000 (behind the city-states of Hong Kong and Singapore) to No. 8 in 2005 and to No. 18 in 2010, the last year for which complete statistics are available.
WSJ | NY Fed Manufacturing Index Worsens
An index covering New York manufacturing activity unexpectedly fell further into contraction this month, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York‘s Empire State Manufacturing Survey released Monday.
National Review | A Nation of Dependents? Breaking Down the Numbers
Since the topic of dependency has been in the news in the last 24 hours, I thought I would post this chart I made a few months ago showing that 49 percent of Americans live in a household that receives government benefits.
