News
CNN Money | Income surged in December, amid fiscal cliff fears
Income and savings surged in December but the effect is probably temporary, due mostly to Americans trying to avoid paying higher taxes in the new year.
Bloomberg | Business Activity in U.S. Grew More Than Forecast in January
Business activity in the U.S. expanded more than forecast in January, a sign manufacturing picked up at the start of the year.
CNN Money | FHA to hike premiums on mortgages
Government-insured mortgages are about to get more expensive.
Bloomberg | Consumer Comfort in U.S. Falls for Fourth Straight Week
Consumer confidence fell again last week, raising the risk that the payroll tax increase that kicked in at the start of the year will make it difficult to sustain a pickup in spending.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | As Contractions Go . . .
The federal government reported Wednesday that the U.S. economy shrank in the last quarter of 2012, but not to worry. The report is better than it sounds, the stock market is rocking, and in any event the Federal Reserve will take the news as another reason to keep both feet pressed firmly on the monetary accelerator.
Bloomberg | R-Word For U.S. Economy in 2013 is Rebound Not Recession
The “R” word that economists were using after yesterday’s news that U.S. gross domestic product contracted in the fourth quarter was rebound, not recession.
WSJ | America's Growing Minerals Deficit
After every election, there's a mad scramble in Washington over the must-make-it-happen agenda for the newly inaugurated president and Congress. There are welcome signs from the White House's own Material Genome Initiative that securing America's access to critical metals and minerals will be high on the list.
Forbes | President Obama's Economic Growth Is Unworthy of U.S. Tradition: What's the Matter?
Last November, the political science models that predict presidential-election winners broke. As has long been taught, no incumbent ever wins re-election after presiding over weak recovery from a steep recession and 1.5% yearly economic growth—namely President Obama’s record over his first term in office.
WSJ | If We Can't Blame Uncertainty, What Is Weighing On Growth?
Does a whole lot of uncertainty about government spending and taxes and raising the prospect that the U.S. Treasury won't have cash to pay the bills hold back an economy otherwise ready to take off?
Blogs
AEI | No, the negative fourth-quarter GDP report doesn’t prove ‘austerity’ is killing the US economy
US economic output fell at a 0.1% annualized rate in the fourth quarter, adjusted for inflation. Blame spending cuts, say the Democrats. Blame Republican “austerity.” And one more thing: Stop the sequester.
CNN Money | FHA to hike premiums on mortgages
Government-insured mortgages are about to get more expensive.
