News
Bloomberg | Business Activity in U.S. Shrank in October for Second Month
Business activity in the U.S. unexpectedly contracted in October for a second month, adding to signs manufacturing has retreated from its central role in the economic recovery.
CNN Money | Largest refinery okay, but gas shortage still a risk
In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, it's still unclear whether consumers will see a nationwide gas spike.
Market Watch | U.S. employment costs climb 0.4% in third quarter
The employment cost index, which measures the price of U.S. labor, rose 0.4% in the third quarter, the Labor Department said Wednesday.
Bloomberg | Storm Keeping Millions From Work May Slow Economic Growth
Atlantic superstorm Sandy may cut U.S. economic growth as it keeps millions of employees away from work and shuts businesses from restaurants to refineries in one of the nation’s most populated and productive regions.
CNN Money | Sandy's economic impact
Millions are without power, likely for an extended period of time. Businesses -- from the nation's stock exchanges and all the way on down to thousands of corner stores -- have been shut down.
Econ Comments & Analysis
NBER | The Effects of Environmental Regulation on the Competitiveness of U.S. Manufacturing
The economic costs of environmental regulations have been widely debated since the U.S. began to restrict pollution emissions more than four decades ago.
Washington Times | Crunch time for Obama’s weak economic numbers
The bleak truth about the comatose Obama economy is not just that it’s barely breathing. It’s still not far from another recession.
Daily Caller | Come home, Paul Krugman
I hate to say it, but economist, New York Times columnist and partisan talking beard Paul Krugman is a smart guy. After all, they don’t hand out Nobel Prizes based on looks. For proof, see 1902’s winner for literature.
Washington Times | The coming regulatory tsunami
Knowledgeable officials are expecting a regulatory tsunami after the election. By law, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is required to publish a report each April and October about new regulations that government agencies are considering. OMB failed to publish the April report. The question is why — what is it hiding?
Forbes | On Its 83rd Anniversary, Lessons From The Great Depression
Monday marks the 83rd anniversary of the onset of the worst economic collapse in the history of the modern world: the Great Depression. To observe the occasion, U.S. policymakers should reflect on lessons learned from the crisis. This is more than just an exercise in platitudes. Understanding the effects of policies implemented to aid the recoveries of the early 20th century could go a long way toward accelerating the one we’re currently surviving.
The American | Who Needs Home Ownership?
Home ownership subsidies have imposed costs that are large and clear. The benefits of such subsidies are, at best, small and vague.
Washington Times | Obama’s designs on American industry
Recently, I saw a big poster that proclaimed “Keep America Strong — Vote Obama-Biden.” I nearly choked. What am I not getting here?
CNN Money | A new type of 401(k): No fund picking allowed
The 401(k) is the best tool you have to save for retirement, but it can be an awfully clumsy one.
Blogs
Café Hayek | The curious task
Still, I worry that the pursuit of national numerical targets is a bad way to allocate scarce resources. In 1995, President Bill Clinton announced a goal of 8 million new homeowners by 2000. In 2002, President George W. Bush promised 5.5 million new minority homeowners by 2010.
Political Calculations | A First Look at GDP for 2012-Q4
As we expected, economic growth in the United States picked up in the third quarter of 2012, increasing from the annualized growth rate of 1.3% recorded in 2012-Q2 to 2.0% in the BEA's initial GDP estimate for 2012-Q3.
AEI | Misplaced Nordic envy
The United States is now just the 12th most prosperous nation on Earth, apparently. This marks the first time it has ever fallen from the top ten of the Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index.
Café Hayek | Destroying Property Does Not Promote Economic Prosperity
I sit at home now (GMU is closed today) awaiting whatever will be the effects of hurricane Sandy. I’m not sure what those effects will be, although I doubt that they will be as dire as some of the breathless commentaries are predicting. (I could be proven wrong, of course; I hope that I’m not.)
