News
Bloomberg | Pimco Sees Global Growth Slowing After U.S. Tightening
Pacific Investment Management Co., manager of the world’s largest mutual fund, said global growth will be hampered next year by a slowdown in the U.S. economy.
Market Watch | U.S. trade deficit rises 4.9% to $42.2 billion
The U.S. trade deficit increased 4.9% in October to $42.2 billion, as imports of crude oil rose and American exports of manufactured goods fell to the lowest level in nearly a year.
Bloomberg | German Investor Confidence Jumps to 7-Month High on Outlo
German investor confidence jumped more than economists forecast to a seven-month high in December on speculation Europe’s largest economy will gather momentum next year.
Market Watch | NFIB small-business optimism index plunges
Small-business optimism plunged in November in the wake of President Barack Obama's re-election, according to data released Tuesday.
CNN Money | Forget the fiscal cliff, the economy is rebounding
The fiscal cliff may be unresolved, but Americans are still upbeat about the economy, according to a TD Ameritrade survey.
CNBC | Wall Street Worries Washington Will Wreck Economy: CNBC Survey
Wall Street's concerns about Washington are escalating, with the December CNBC Fed Survey finding growing investor angst about a recession, the fiscal cliff and the Fed's monetary policy.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | Penalized for success
Last week, Christine Jacobs, the CEO of Theragenics Corp., a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange that makes medical devices and is involved in cutting-edge cancer cures, wrote a letter to President Obama explaining why it was necessary to “begin moving our U.S. manufacturing to Costa Rica.”
Real Clear Markets | It's a Fact That Politicians Wreck Work Incentives
Despite gains in employment and a drop in the jobless rate in November, the labor force data released Friday were disturbing. They showed a drop of 350,000 in the number of people in the labor force, a big decline for one month and an extension of a troubling trend.
Heritage Foundation | TAG: Phase Out Unlimited Bank Deposit Guarantees
In 2008, in the midst of a financial crisis, federal regulators extended bank deposit guarantees beyond the statutory $250,000 limit to cover all “transaction,” or checking, deposits. Later codified by Congress, the Transaction Account Guarantee (TAG) program is due to expire on December 31, 2012. Congress is considering a two-year extension. It should not do so.
Blogs
Harvard Business Review | How Corruption Is Strangling U.S. Innovation
For all the talk of the fiscal cliff, however, I believe the US is facing a much more serious problem, one that has simply not been talked about at all: corruption. But this isn't the overt, "bartering of government favors in return for private kickbacks" corruption.
Economist | Reverse contagion
In the old days, banks in the rich world lost money after lending too much to the global South, which then affected their ability to make loans at home and to other poor countries. Now, thanks to the ongoing crisis in the euro zone, we are witnessing a new phenomenon, where banks that lose money in their home markets withdraw from otherwise profitable activities abroad.
