News
Bloomberg | GDP Accelerating to 2.9% Helping U.S. Overcome Sandy Woes
The U.S. economy looks set to weather the headwinds from Hurricane Sandy and the budget battles in Washington after picking up speed in the third quarter.
Market Watch | Sales of existing homes rise 2.1% in October
Sales of existing homes rose 2.1% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.79 million from a downwardly revised rate of 4.69 million in September, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday.
Investors | Obama's Economy: What We've Learned Since Re-election
Obama II: In the "now they tell us" file, add a vast array of reports that have come out since the election showing just how weak the economy really is. Looks like the president will need a new scapegoat soon.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | Lame-duck Congress should be saving economy
Only days after voters cast their ballots, members of the 112th Congress have returned to Washington for the most consequential lame-duck session in many years. At issue is the “fiscal cliff.”
WSJ | Liberating Money Funds
Judging by the long faces on money-market fund lobbyists last week, we're starting to think Washington might reform an industry that received a federal rescue in 2008. On Tuesday, the federal Financial Stability Oversight Council proposed one rule change that would protect taxpayers in the next crisis, plus two others that may not.
Washington Times | Global warming hysteria will kill jobs
Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have boosted shale gas production from zero a few years ago to 10 percent of all U.S. energy supplies in 2012, observes energy analyst Daniel Yergin. It has increased U.S. oil production 25 percent since 2008, in the face of more federal land and resource withdrawals, permitting delays and declining public land production.
AEI | FHA, the next housing bailout: Update and evaluation
It was no surprise to this observer when the recently released 2012 fiscal year actuarial review of the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA’s) main single family mortgage insurance fund concluded that it was insolvent.
Blogs
Neighborhood Effects | The Study of American Capitalism
The more government is involved in an economy, the more the profitability of business will depend on government policy. Even those entrepreneurs who would prefer to avoid cronyism are pushed into it, because they must become politically active to maintain their profitability.
Calculated Risk | NAHB Builder Confidence increases in November, Highest since May 2006
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported the housing market index (HMI) increased 5 points in November to 46. Any number under 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as poor than good.
Heritage Foundation | More Misleading Numbers on Poverty
This past week, media outlets have been abuzz, heralding the news that poverty levels in the United States are higher than previously thought. But the numbers are misleading.
