News
Bloomberg | China’s Slower Manufacturing Casts Shadow Over Recovery: Economy
China’s manufacturing is expanding at the slowest pace in four months, a private survey showed, underscoring the headwinds faced by policy makers in the world’s second-biggest economy.
Market Watch | National activity below trend in January
The Chicago Fed's national activity index fell to -0.32 in January from +0.25 in December, a reading that indicates the U.S. economy is running below trend.
Bloomberg | Spending Cuts Threaten State Recoveries, Governors Say
Federal budget cuts will probably push the U.S. back into recession by damaging states’ economies recovering from the worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression, governors said.
Washington Post | Business economists looking for moderate growth in 2013 with stronger growth in 2014
Business economists expect 2013 will be another year of sub-par growth for the U.S. economy, reflecting uncertainty stemming from the budget battles in Washington and Europe’s on-going debt problems. But they think the economy will improve as the year progresses and by 2014 will grow at the fastest pace in nine years.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Politico | A plan to fix housing
Six years after the collapse of the housing market, the problems in housing remain as severe as ever, and solutions continue to be elusive.
Businessweek | Don't Weep for Boomers Close to Retirement
Thanks to the brutal combination of the recent recession and boomer demographics, the words “retirement” and “penury” are practically synonymous.
Mercatus | The Regressive Effects of Regulation: Who Bears the Cost?
In a market economy, regulations are often thought of as a useful tool in correcting the imbalance of power between large, entrenched interests and consumers. Federal agencies are supposed to create universal rules of the road that protect the health, safety, and welfare of customers and employees, secondary considerations for companies focused on profits.
NBER | Growth Slowdowns Redux: New Evidence on the Middle-Income Trap
We analyze the incidence and correlates of growth slowdowns in fast-growing middle-income countries, extending the analysis of an earlier paper (Eichengreen, Park and Shin 2012).
Blogs
National Journal | What Does the Keystone XL Pipeline Represent?
What does the controversial Keystone XL pipeline stand for? And what is at stake when President Obama decides its fate? The 1,700-mile, tar-sands project has come to symbolize much more than a pipeline. Almost five years after the project's first step into the regulatory process, Washington is still fighting about its fate.
Library of Economics | Should Cost/Benefit Analysis Consider Only Benefits?
Don't worry. I'm not going to produce a new insight that cost/benefit analysis should consider only benefits. But the reason for the title of this post is that a logical conclusion to draw is that Josh Barro thinks so.
Café Hayek | Import-Led Growth
Many people – high-school teachers, celebrated historians, politicians, the list is long – are convinced that nations can grow wealthy through exports. This belief is nonsense.
