News
Bloomberg | Treasuries Fluctuate as U.S. Readies $72 Billion in Debt Sales
Treasuries were little changed as the U.S. government prepared to sell $72 billion in coupon- bearing securities this week.
Market Watch | Tax rift hardens as ‘sequester’ nears
A rift over how to replace the automatic budget cuts known as “sequestration” hardened on Sunday, as Democratic and Republican leaders clashed over including tax increases in any proposal to replace the looming spending reductions set to kick in on March 1.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Real Clear Markets | The Neglected Cost of Government Spending
With the news that real GDP growth in the last three months of 2012 disappeared (with -0.1% being the early estimate), calls for more government spending are again rising from Democrats in Congress. Now, they say, is the wrong time to cut spending as the economy cannot afford the additional hit from a reduction in federal spending.
Washington Times | Taking an ax to spending
When it comes to federal spending, $85 billion is a drop in the bucket. Howls can be heard over the mere suggestion that outlays might be reduced by this amount through sequestration. The concern is overblown, as we’re only talking about 2 percent of a $3.8 trillion budget.
Mercatus | The Congressional Budget Office's Grim New Budget Report
Pointing to a few positive projections in the Congressional Budget Office's latest budget report, many proclaimed the U.S. economy and federal budget on the road to recovery. Problem almost solved! Unfortunately, this assessment is ridiculously shortsighted; it is also a dangerous misrepresentation of the nation's fiscal situation.
Blogs
CATO | So You Want to Cut Spending
Back in 2011 there was a titanic fight between President Obama and the newly energized House Republicans over the federal budget. The ballyhooed result, which averted the frightening specter of a “government shutdown,” was “the largest annual spending cut in our history,” in the words of President Obama and the national media.
Politico | Pelosi: 'We've had plenty of spending cuts'
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says the tens of billions of dollars of spending cuts under sequestration that kicks in on March 1 can be avoided through eliminating tax subsidies for oil companies.
Economist | The austerity is real
Both outlays and receipts are, as a share of GDP, below pre-crisis levels. And while receipts are now forecast to rise back to pre-crisis level by 2014, outlays are expected to remain about two percentage points higher than before the recession. But the point remains that the "austerity" of 2011-2012 wasn't "austerity" but austerity.
