News
Washington Times | Agencies warn politicians:
Credit ratings on the line
Wall Street ratings agencies are skeptical of the resolve of political leaders to tame the nation’s debts, and are raising the likelihood that at least one of the three top agencies will add to the turmoil in financial markets at the end of the year by further downgrading the U.S. credit rating.
Bloomberg | Manufacturing in New York Region Shrinks for Fourth Month
Manufacturing in the New York region contracted for a fourth straight month in November as superstorm Sandy knocked out electrical power and limited activity.
Market Watch | U.S. retail sales retreat in October
Retail sales in the U.S. fell in October by the sharpest amount since June, hurt by the effects of Hurricane Sandy, but data released Wednesday also showed weak consumer demand in a number of areas.
CNN Money | Eurozone slips back into recession
The eurozone has slipped into recession for a second time in four years, as the sharp fall in activity in debt-ridden southern Europe economies weighed on output across the region.
Bloomberg | Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index Falls to -10.7 From 5.7
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index decreased to minus 10.7 in November from 5.7 a month earlier. A reading of zero is the dividing line between expansion and contraction in the area covering eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Real Clear Markets | What Small Business Wants From the Federal Government
With the 2012 election behind us, and American voters retaining an electoral status quo in Washington, the weak U.S. economy remains the primary concern of the electorate. For American small business owners, the policy issues that are most important to them are resolutely clear.
WSJ | Escape From Basel
While taxpayers wonder if Washington is going to throw them off a cliff of scheduled tax hikes, another potential economic calamity has been postponed. On Friday, bank regulators announced that they will not impose complicated new rules on New Year's Day. Let's hope they don't impose them on any other days.
Politico | Wield entrepreneurship as key foreign policy tool
In this post-election week — which happens to coincide with Global Entrepreneurship Week — it is a good time to look at what more the United States could and should be doing to raise the profile of entrepreneurship promotion as a key element of our foreign policy in an increasingly troubled and fragile world.
WSJ | The Suburban Education Gap
Parents nationwide are familiar with the wide academic achievement gaps separating American students of different races, family incomes and ZIP Codes. But a second crucial achievement gap receives far less attention. It is the disparity between children in America's top suburban schools and their peers in the highest-performing school systems elsewhere in the world.
Blogs
Keith Hennessey | Reactions to the President’s press conference
I have three quick reactions to today’s Presidential press conference.
Library of Economics | Which hurts more in the short run, tax hikes or spending cuts?
The surprising thing is this is an IMF study that usually gets cited to show that spending cuts don't grow the economy---that "expansionary austerity" is a mere theorist's dream. But this same research also provides evidence that tax hikes cause more trouble than spending cuts in the short run.
Calculated Risk | Zillow: 1.3 million fewer U.S. homeowners were in negative equity in Q3
Negative equity fell in the third quarter, with 28.2 percent of all homeowners with mortgages underwater, down from 30.9 percent in the second quarter, according to the third quarter Zillow® Negative Equity Report.
