News
Bloomberg | French Industrial Output Tumbles as Recession Looms
French industrial production fell more than expected in January as Europe’s second-largest economy teetered on the brink of its third recession in four years.
Bloomberg | China’s Economic Data Show Weakest Start Since 2009
China’s industrial output had the weakest start to a year since 2009 and lending and retail sales growth slowed, underscoring challenges for a new leadership that wants to narrow the gap between rich and poor.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Bloomberg | Gross Raises U.S. Economic Growth Forecast to 3% in 2013
Bill Gross, whose Pacific Investment Management Co. coined the phrase “new normal” in 2009 to describe an era of subpar growth and a diminishing role for developed economies, sees the U.S. outlook brightening -- at least for 2013.
Real Clear Markets | Main Street Hasn't Abandoned Wall Street
We now know the promise and peril of paper wealth. In the past 15 years, the stock market's convulsions ought to have rattled even hardy investors. Twice - after the popping of the "tech bubble" in 2000 and after the financial crisis in 2008 - the market lost half its value. It then struggled for years to regain its previous peaks; this happened again last week when the Dow Jones Industrial Average exceeded its 2007 high.
Politico | Self-funding of regulators would help fiscal mess
Washington has been abuzz with the automatic, across-the-board spending cuts taking effect, known as the sequester. While many have been focused on the impact on education, law enforcement and transportation safety, another important area that deserves attention is the impact on our financial market regulators: the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Bloomberg | Why Democrats Must Get Smart on Entitlements
In a season of depressing budget news, the worst may have been that a majority of U.S. House Democrats signed a letter urging President Barack Obama to oppose any benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlements. That’s the last thing we need.
Barrons | It's Not Just the Fed
Like Mae West, the stock market seems to believe that too much of a good thing can be wonderful. Extraordinary central-bank support has delivered us in four short years from the brink of depression to new stock-market highs. Yet there are those who hope our Federal Reserve will keep printing money with crisis-era urgency, preferably indefinitely.
Blogs
Economist | Measuring consumer surplus online
Computing the consumer surplus of the modern online economy is challenging. No researcher has yet worked out the consumer surplus for major online applications, such as Facebook and Google Search, at least not with actual data. Let’s review the challenges.
