News
WSJ | Greek Lawmakers Pass Austerity Deal
Greek lawmakers narrowly approved a multibillion-euro austerity package early Thursday in an effort to win more bailout funds, but the measures also threaten to deepen the country's brutal recession and destabilize its fragile politics.
NY Times | Boehner Strikes Conciliatory Tone in Talk of Fiscal Cliff
The House speaker, John A. Boehner of Ohio, striking a conciliatory tone a day after the Republican Party’s electoral drubbing, said on Wednesday that he was ready to accept a budget deal that raises federal revenue as long as it is linked to an overhaul of entitlements and a reform of the tax code that closes loopholes, curtails or eliminates deductions and lowers income tax rates.
Market Watch | Draghi: Up to Spain to make bailout decision
The European Central Bank stands ready to implement its aggressive bond-buying program, known as outright monetary transactions, or OMTs, but it remains up to Spain or other governments to decide whether to seek help, ECB President Mario Draghi said Thursday.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | The President's Cliff Walk
So much for the post-election honeymoon. The financial markets took a header Wednesday on (take your pick) the return of European troubles, the risk of a Beltway breakdown over the looming tax cliff, or the greater prospect of a major tax increase arriving in 2013. The most important question now is how a re-elected President Obama is going to deal with this economic policy mess.
Real Clear Markets | The Challenge of Private Debt For the Post-Election Economy
Congratulations to President Obama on his victory this week. I hope he really wanted it because he faces some stiff economic challenges in his second term; chief among them the slow private debt deleveraging that will hamper economic growth for at least the next few years.
Washington Post | Make a deficit deal now
Unlike previous times, when there may have been many months or even years for officials to continue fighting long-standing policy battles, important decisions need to be made in the next two months to address the “fiscal cliff.”
CBO | The Federal Budget Deficit Shrank in Fiscal Year 2012 but Still Exceeded $1 Trillion
Last month, the Treasury Department reported that the federal government incurred a budget deficit of $1.1 trillion for fiscal year 2012—$207 billion less than that in 2011.
Blogs
Economist | Still a long way to go
My colleague rightly notes that the next four years have the potential to be better than the last four years. The bleeding stopped long ago. Job growth continues to outpace population growth, albeit ever so slightly.
