News
Bloomberg | U.S. Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Rose to 77.6 in February
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of U.S. consumer sentiment for February rose to 77.6 from 73.8 at the end of the previous month.
CNN Money | Expect relief from record February gas prices
Gas prices rose 10% this month, making it the worst February on record, but drivers can expect relief up ahead. - See more at: http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/28/news/economy/gas-prices-february/index.html?iid=SF_E_LN#sthash.z1DgCqLb.dpuf
Bloomberg | Factory Expansion Spurs Growth as Budget Cuts Loom: Economy
American factories expanded in February at the fastest pace in almost two years, spurred by a jump in orders that is helping propel an economy about to be tested by federal government cutbacks.
Politico | Big business on sequester: Zzzz
The financial markets and some of the nation’s biggest business groups have a collective response to the looming sequester: yawn.
Market Watch | January construction spending drops unexpectedly
Outlays for U.S. construction projects unexpectedly declined in January, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Construction spending fell 2.1% in January to an annualized rate of $883.3 billion, the first drop since last March.
Bloomberg | Consumer Spending in U.S. Climbs Even as Taxes Hurt Incomes
Consumer spending in the U.S. rose in January even as incomes dropped by the most in 20 years, showing households were weathering the payroll-tax increase by socking away less money in the bank.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Daily Caller | The sequester will be good for the economy
Politicians, pundits and economists are all forecasting horrific impacts on the U.S. economy as sequestration hits Friday. The basis for this view is the standard — Keynesian — claim that spending cuts slow economic growth, perhaps even causing a recession. This claim is false.
Mercatus | Volcker Rule Continues to Trouble Regulators and Industry
Federal regulators are still struggling to finalize the long-awaited Volcker rule—a component of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 that prohibits banks from engaging in proprietary trading and limits their investment in hedge funds. Now it’s being reported that the final rule won’t be ready until the second half of this year, creating more uncertainty for the private sector.
WSJ | Obamageddon
If you're reading this after midnight on Friday, March 1, the dreaded Beltway hour of doom known as the "sequester" has arrived and the news is that the world has not ended. You can pinch yourself to make sure. This does not mean there won't be more political histrionics, but the beginning of applying reason to Washington is understanding that it is possible to cut at least some federal spending.
Real Clear Markets | Free Lunch For the Middle Class Now Causing Pain
President Obama and his cabinet are busy scaring the American public about all the pain that the tiny budget cuts called for in the sequester are going to cause.
Mercatus | GDP: Slow Growth Ahead
There was only one lane open as I made my trip to Atlanta; the other three were blocked with those unhappy yellow and black make-believe barrels used by the highway folks. Traffic flow was constrained by efforts to repair potholes and broken pavement.
AEI | The Housing Bubble and the Limits of Human Knowledge
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lost an aggregate $246 billion during the shriveling of the great American housing bubble. They lost all the profits they had made since 1971 plus another $140 billion — quite a performance.
