News
Market Watch | Euro nations try to limit Spain exposure: WSJ
Euro-zone governments are hoping they will only need to make a small contribution to any Spanish bailout request, with the European Central Bank making up the bulk, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, citing senior officials.
CNN Money | China's GDP growth slides to 7.4%
More bad news about the global economy: Growth slowed last quarter in China to its lowest level since early 2009.
Bloomberg | Spain Banks Face Pain as Worst-Case Scenario Turns Real
Spain’s banks face more loan losses as the pace of an economic slump risks turning a worst-case scenario dismissed in stress tests into reality.
WSJ | States Shift Foreclosure-Suit Funds
When states received $2.5 billion from big banks in a mortgage-foreclosure settlement earlier this year, the expectation was that most of it would be used to aid distressed homeowners. But so far, less than half of the money has been designated for that cause—with much of the rest going to help close state budget gaps, says a report scheduled for release Thursday.
Bloomberg | Morgan Stanley Beats Estimates on Fixed-Income Gains
Morgan Stanley, the sixth-largest U.S. bank, reported third-quarter results that beat analysts’ estimates as revenue from fixed-income trading almost doubled from the second quarter.
Econ Comments & Analysis
CATO | Why Is There So Much Government Waste?
Every year the office of Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) releases a compendium of the worst examples of government waste. And every year I’m reminded of H.L. Mencken’s quote that “Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.” Released this week, the 2012 edition should leave even the indecent ashamed of how the federal government spends our money.
Blogs
National Review | Another Stimulus Beneficiary Bites the Dust
Yesterday, I mentioned a few of the companies that went under after receiving stimulus money. Today, another stimulus recipient announced that it was filing for bankruptcy.
John Taylor | Weak Recovery Denial
Paul Krugman disagrees with my recent post that the recovery is weak compared to recoveries from past serious U.S. recessions including those associated with financial crises. I’ve been writing about the reasons for weak recovery for two years, but the issue has heated up because of its relevance to the elections this fall.
