News
Market Watch | U.S. industrial output rebounds 0.4% in September
Industrial output rebounded a bit in September after a steep drop in the prior month, partly related to Hurricane Isaac, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday.
Washington Post | JPMorgan and Wells said that housing had turned a corner, but Citi says not so fast
On Friday, executives at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase declared that the long-struggling market had turned a corner. On Monday, Citigroup’s top number-cruncher said he wasn’t so sure.
WSJ | In Reversal, Cash Leaks Out of China
Wealthy Chinese citizens are buying beachfront condos in Cyprus, paying big U.S. tuition bills for their children and stocking up on luxury goods in Singapore, frequently moving cash secretly through a flourishing network of money-transfer agents. Chinese companies, for their part, are making big-ticket foreign acquisitions, buying up natural resources and letting foreign profits accumulate overseas.
CNN Money | Banks accused of defrauding homeowners by rigging Libor
Add one more to the list of alleged victims of Libor manipulation: homeowners.
Market Watch | Oct. builder sentiment edges up to six-year high
Builder confidence in October edged higher to mark the sixth gain in a row and the top reading in more than six years, a trade group said Tuesday in the latest indicator of a revival in the housing market.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | Infostructure Is the New Infrastructure
Among advocates of big government and Keynesian countercyclical stimulus, one subject keeps coming up: infrastructure. They're always arguing the short- and long-term benefits of building new highways, bridges, tunnels, urban light-rail systems, or, the Holy Grail itself, a national high-speed rail network.
Washington Times | Global gloom & doom
Human-rights activists risking their lives to bring democracy to authoritarian countries found themselves snubbed Friday. The Nobel Committee somehow decided the European Union was more deserving of the Peace Prize.
Blogs
Café Hayek | John Taylor on the Recovery, Part 2
Here is the second episode of the Numbers Game, my new project using charts and data. It’s John Taylor discussing some of the common arguments for why this is a mediocre recovery.
Library of Economics | True by Definition: Redistribution and Economic Freedom
The truth is that size of government and economic freedom are inextricably connected. Any definition of "economic freedom" that doesn't directly incorporate the size of government is a crummy definition.
John Taylor | More on the Unusually Weak Recovery
The weak recovery continues to be a major topic. Over the weekend, Russ Roberts issued the second episode of his three part “chartcast” series on the topic, which is based on interviews with me and builds on his highly-regarded podcast series, but with helpful charts and illustrations.
Library of Economics | "Some Men Just Want to Watch the World Burn"
How much of politics is caused by the "visceral pleasure of being nasty?" Since voters might not be too honest about the topic if you asked them outright, this topic seems ripe for a neuroscience experiment. And note that this would be something a bit different from simply a "politics of envy."
