News
CNN Money | Foreclosure filings fall to lowest level since 2007
Foreclosure filings in January plunged to their lowest level since April 2007.
Bloomberg | Euro-Area Economy Shrinks Most Since Depths of Recession
The euro-area recession deepened more than economists forecast with the worst performance in almost four years as the region’s three biggest economies suffered slumping output.
CNN Money | Japan's economy contracts for third straight quarter
The world's third-largest economy failed last quarter to pull out of a mild recession, further raising prospects of aggressive fiscal and monetary stimulus.
CNBC | Mortgage Mess Still Mires Housing Recovery
President Obama says he wants more Americans to be able to save money by refinancing their mortgages. The trouble is that mortgage rates are rising, now at their highest level since September of last year, before the Federal Reserve announced it would buy more agency mortgage-backed securities in order to drive rates down. Last week applications to refinance fell 6 percent from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Post | Growth isn’t enough to help the middle class
Two kinds of middle-class Americans are struggling today — people who can’t find any work or enough work, and full-timers who can’t seem to get ahead.
Real Clear Markets | The Dangerous Partnership Between Big Business and Government
President Obama's greatest strategic accomplishment during his first term was his recruitment of big business to join the existing collection of special interest groups within the Democratic Party.
Blogs
WSJ | Make Smoother Trade, Not Currency War
World leaders are raising the stakes in the exchange markets and threatening a currency war. Japan is trying to weaken the yen. U.S. politicians cast stones at China’s yuan policy. And in the past, Latin American politicians have criticized the impact on the dollar by the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing.
Marginal Revolution | An EU-U.S. trade pact?
U.S. officials have been concerned that Europe’s complex politics — of the 27 EU nations, some are avowed free-trade supporters while some veer towards protectionist industrial policy — would make for protracted and perhaps futile negotiations.
WSJ | Consumer Cutbacks May Get Worse
There’s now clear evidence higher tax bills are prompting Americans to cut back — but it’ll be months before we know the full impact on the economy.
