News
WSJ | Consumer Spending Wobbles
U.S. consumer spending, a rare pillar of economic strength in recent months, is showing signs of weakening.
Washington Times | Economy Briefs: Consumer borrowing rises to record $2.75 trillion
Americans swiped their credit cards more often in October and borrowed more to attend school and buy cars. The increases drove U.S. consumer debt to an all-time high.
WSJ | Crisis-Era Measure Nears End
Small banks are making a last-ditch attempt to persuade Congress to extend a crisis-era blanket guarantee on nearly $1.5 trillion in deposits before it expires at the end of the year.
WSJ | Japan Says Recession Has Probably Started
An index of data reflecting the current state of Japan's economy fell in October for the seventh straight month, indicating a high possibility that the country has already fallen into a recession.
Bloomberg | Japan Sinks Into Recession as Abe Calls for More Stimulus
Japan’s economy sank into recession in the second and third quarters, fueling opposition leader Shinzo Abe’s calls for more stimulus and highlighting the risk that weak growth will derail a planned sales-tax rise.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | The North American Gusher
President Obama has promised to get the anemic U.S. economy going again by boosting exports. Besides the export of billions of freshly printed U.S. dollars from the Federal Reserve, it is not clear exactly what the president has in mind.
Trib Live | ‘Riding’ Social Security off a cliff
Suppose Jones proposes to ensure that each and every retired American enjoys at least a minimum annual income. Jones’ plan is to ask every working American to voluntarily contribute money each year to a fund that he will set up and administer.
Blogs
Calculated Risk | Schedule for Week of Dec 9th
The key event this week is the two day FOMC meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. With the coming conclusion of Operation Twist, there is a very strong possibility that the Fed will announce additional accommodation.
CATO | Exporting Natural Gas
Suddenly, due to improved drilling techniques, the U.S. is overflowing with natural gas, driving down domestic prices. But foreign prices remain high, which means there is an opportunity for us to export natural gas.
AEI | A chat with Richard Burkhauser on income inequality
On my latest Ricochet Money & Politics Podcast, I chatted with Richard Burkhauser, economics professor at Cornell University.
Coordination Problem | Prices Doing Their Job
Lionel Robbins in his introduction to Philip Wicksteed's classic, The Common-Sense of Political Economy, first explains Wicksteed's exposition of individual maximzing behavior and the optimaility conditions associated with system equilibrium.
Calculated Risk | Unofficial Problem Bank list declines to 849 Institutions
The first unofficial problem bank list was published in August 2009 with 389 institutions. The number of unofficial problem banks grew steadily and peaked at 1,002 institutions on June 10, 2011. The list has been declining since then.
Think Markets | Interests are More Powerful than Ideas?
There is an interesting interview with Ed Feulner, the outgoing president of the Heritage Foundation, in the weekend (Dec. 8-9) Wall Street Journal. The interview got me thinking about the progress made in the pro-economic-liberty cause, not only over the years of Heritage, but since, say, 1960.
Coordination Problem | The Function of Market Agitation
Individuals will continually pursue trades until the mutual gains are exhausted. Market agitation reflects the changes being made by market participants in their attempt to bring their plans into consistency with the plans of others as embodied in the data of the market.
WSJ | Number of the Week: As Companies Borrow More, Where Is Money Going?
$8.4 trillion: The amount of debt owed by U.S. corporations at the end of September.
