News
Bloomberg | American Companies Are Poised to Boost Capital Spending
American companies are poised to put idle cash to work as demand rebounds in 2013 after spending slumped amid the slowdown in China and Europe’s recession.
WSJ | Make Your Own Deficit-Reduction Plan
Unless lawmakers can agree on measures to reduce the deficit, standing legislation will do it for them. Under the "Fiscal Cliff" scenario, the Congressional Budget Office projects a deficit of $142 billion by 2020, or a $1.102 trillion deficit if some tax cuts are extended and other policies remain in effect.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Heritage Foundation | Fiscal Cliff: Five Budget Tactics to Reject
If plunging over the fiscal cliff[1] in January would threaten the nation’s economy, Congress and the President could also do harm in another way: by dodging the cliff through gimmicks and bogus budget cuts that create only illusory savings in a “grand” budget bargain.
WSJ | We Can't Fix the Budget in Secret
The United States is on an unsustainable spending and debt course. Without reform, it will lead to economic disaster. Yet a fundamental alteration in U.S. policy won't occur until the American people understand the depth of the danger and the scale of change required. One thing is already clear: Such change can begin only with extensive, messy and even contentious legislative work carried on for months in the open light of day.
Real Clear Markets | Where Have the Heroes Gone In the Fiscal Cliff Debate?
As the nation contemplates the Fiscal Cliff and its yawning abyss, many people wonder if there are any close historical parallels to guide us. Our country has lived through, and endured, many crises, but never one exactly like this. One past budget crisis, however, has some similarities from which we might be able to learn.
WSJ | A Truly Balanced Approach to the Deficit
The dangers of the "fiscal cliff" are by now well known. Most agree that the year-end $500 billion in tax increases and $110 billion in arbitrary, across-the-board discretionary spending cuts, including defense, must be averted to avoid plunging the U.S. economy back into recession. But how the danger is averted is important.
Investors | Fiscal Cliff Offers Chance To Change How Congress Frames Debate
Getting a truly satisfying bargain in fiscal cliff negotiations, including comprehensive tax reform, seems unlikely, especially before Christmas. People are too dug in.
Washington Times | Obama’s fuzzy math
The deadline for reaching a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff is looming, and the solution remains elusive. President Obama appears no closer to accepting any spending cuts. Instead, he’s trying to push a plan that would only add to the existing $16.4 trillion debt.
Blogs
Keith Hennessey | A third option changes the negotiation
The conventional wisdom on the fiscal cliff is that there are two options: (1) an Obama-Boehner deal; or (2) no deal, in which case there is no legislation before the end of the year and we “go off the fiscal cliff.” Even those who acknowledge the possibility of other legislative paths appear to treat the Obama-Boehner negotiation as if it were the only alternative to a failure to legislate.
WSJ | As U.S. Approaches Debt Limit, Treasury Readies ‘Extraordinary’ Measures
As the federal government closes in on its legal debt limit, the U.S. Treasury is dusting off its book of so-called extraordinary measures — moves that will buy it a few extra months to finance Social Security, military salaries and other payments.
