News
WSJ | Euro-Zone Activity Declines Further
The euro-zone economy declined further at the start of the fourth quarter, business surveys suggest, with sentiment in Germany—the euro zone's biggest economy and key source of financial support—worsening markedly.
USA Today | Economists see less pain, slow gains in 2013
Almost two-thirds of the 48 economists surveyed predict the so-called fiscal cliff issue will be resolved without significant damage to the economy.
CNN Money | Microsoft is risking an $18 billion empire on Windows 8
Windows has been Microsoft's most reliable cash cow for nearly three decades. The software giant is gambling all of that success on what it deems to be the company's future: a radically redesigned Windows 8.
Bloomberg | Orders for U.S. Capital Goods Stagnate Spending Slumps
Orders for U.S. business equipment stalled in September, capping a quarterly slump that signals investment will cool in the second half of the year.
CNN Money | Foreclosures fall in 62% of U.S. cities
Foreclosures fell in nearly two-thirds of the nation's largest metro areas during the third quarter, according to RealtyTrac Thursday.
Market Watch | Pending home sales inch higher in September
Pending home sales edged up 0.3% in September after a sharp drop in the prior month, a trade group reported Thursday.
Econ Comments & Analysis
The American | Energy Is Everywhere
Nearly half of what people pay for energy comes ‘embodied’ in the various goods and services that they use, and about half of that comes down to two things: food and health care.
Politico | Paul Ryan: Stop 'dependency' culture
As Mitt Romney continues to defend himself over comments that 47 percent of Americans are dependent on government services, his running-mate Paul Ryan will say in Ohio on Wednesday that “upward mobility” is stalled for many Americans.
WSJ | Consumption and the Myths of Inequality
In multiple campaign speeches over the past week, President Obama has emphasized a theme central to Democratic campaigns across the country this year: inequality.
Blogs
Economist | Rebalancing, and the big squeeze
The euro zone would like to make its way out of recession at some point; the longer it stays there the more painful and less successful is fiscal consolidation.
Calculated Risk | New Home Sales and Distressing Gap
New home sales have averaged 364,000 on an annual rate basis through September. That means sales are on pace to increase 19% from last year (and based on the last few months, sales will probably increase more than 20% this year).
AEI | Blame Bush? The two charts that show how the Great Recession really happened
Washington has produced lots of policy in response to the Great Recession. TARP, the $800 billion stimulus, Dodd Frank, HAMP and HARP, the QEs.
Heritage Foundation | CHART: Paul Ryan Lays Out a Vision for Reforming Welfare, Fighting Poverty
In his speech today at Cleveland State University, Representative Paul Ryan (R–WI) laid out a vision for reforming the nation’s approach to poverty.
