News
CNN Money | China growth points to gradual recovery
China recorded its weakest growth in 13 years last year, but a rebound in 2012's final quarter removed any lingering concern that the world's second- biggest economy might be heading for a hard landing.
Bloomberg | Michigan Sentiment Index Unexpectedly Falls to One-Year Low
Consumer confidence in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in January to a one-year low as higher payroll taxes began to take hold.
CNN Money | Europe: It's Japan, only worse
The plot line has an all-too-familiar ring to it: One of the biggest engines of global growth seizes up in the aftermath of a massive financial bubble, sending equities into a tailspin and the economy into a recession.
Bloomberg | U.S. Carmakers Urge Obama to Punish Japan for Weak Yen
President Barack Obama should tell Japan’s new government that the U.S. will retaliate for policies aimed at weakening the yen, a group representing Ford Motor Co. (F), General Motors Co. (GM) and Chrysler LLC said.
Market Watch | Feds ok tough appraisal rule for high-risk loans
Federal regulators on Friday issued new tougher rules for appraising higher-priced mortgages, but lenders will have until January 2014 to implement the regulations.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | The hidden burden of regulation
Americans cashing their first paychecks of the year are starting to feel the pain. Higher taxes in the “fiscal cliff” deal are just the beginning of the extra cash Uncle Sam will be collecting in 2013. The unprecedented expansion in regulation on President Obama’s watch means wallets are going to be much thinner by the end of the year.
Real Clear Markets | Economic Growth Must Be Washington's Plan A
If the great football coach Vince Lombardi was alive today, he could modify his famous speech, "What it Takes to Be Number One," to address our fiscal problems:
Washington Times | Persistent plague of Washington waste
Archaic, bloated, duplicative, wasteful, inefficient government is like the weather. People complain about it, but no one has figured out how to change it.
FOX Business | Housing Market in 2013: What to Expect
When the housing market imploded in 2007 and took the economy with it, experts said the real estate market would never look the same again. Now, nearly six years after the crash, the dust has finally cleared and we have a true picture of the new housing landscape.
Fortune | Lucky 2013: A case for economic good times
It's easy to predict gloom and doom for the U.S. economy. But strong growth and job recovery are no pie-in-the-sky fantasies.
Bloomberg | Why We Now Oppose Drilling in the Arctic
The Arctic Ocean is subject to some of the most volatile weather patterns on the planet. Geologists believe it also contains vast undersea oil and gas reserves.
NBER | Gasoline Prices, Fuel Economy, and the Energy Paradox
It is often asserted that consumers undervalue future gasoline costs relative to purchase prices when they choose between automobiles, or equivalently that they have high "implied discount rates" for these future energy costs.
CBO | CBO's Economic Forecasting Record: 2013 Update
For more than three decades, CBO has prepared economic forecasts that underlie the agency’s projections for the federal budget and cost estimates for proposed federal legislation.
Blogs
Market Watch | Cities’ pensions face big shortfall
Unmanageable promises and an unsteady economy have resulted in shortfalls for state governments’ retiree pension and health programs that now total almost $1.4 trillion
WSJ | Secondary Sources: Manufacturing Jobs, Great Stagnation, Black Swans
A roundup of economic news from around the Web.
Heritage Foundation | Transparency in Government: Finding Out How Much the Government’s Mistakes Are Costing Us
One of the little known costs that taxpayers unwittingly pay is the Judgment Fund administered by the Treasury Department. This fund is used to pay “judicially and administratively ordered monetary awards against the United States” when it loses lawsuits, as well as settlements by the government of threatened or actual lawsuits.
