News
Market Watch | U.S. fourth-quarter productivity falls 1.9%
The deterioration in fourth-quarter U.S. productivity was a touch less than originally estimated.
Bloomberg | Congress Budget Cuts Damage U.S. Economy Without Aiding Outlook
President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans have stumbled into an approach to deficit reduction that inflicts the pain of economic austerity without the gain of addressing the long-term budget gap.
Market Watch | U.S. trade gap widens in January
The nation’s trade deficit rebounded in January after hitting a three-year low in the previous month due to a swing in oil imports.
Politico | Small defense contractors bearing brunt of cuts
After months of worst-case scenario projections of what $46 billion in across-the-board spending cuts would look like, defense contractors must deal with the reality that cash flow is about to slow down and, in some cases, disappear entirely.
Bloomberg | Consumer Comfort in U.S. Improves to Highest Level This Year
Confidence among U.S. consumers rose for a fifth week, reaching the highest level this year as improving stock and home prices gave households a lift.
Market Watch | 30-year mortgage rate ticks up to 3.52%
The average rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage ticked up to 3.52% in the week ending March 7 from 3.51% in the prior week, staying near record lows, Freddie Mac said Thursday in its weekly report.
CNBC | Finally! Economic Recovery Is Starting to Pick Up Steam
Stock-market bulls are finally getting some data to back up their bets that the U.S. economic recovery is picking up steam.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | How to Repeat the Mortgage Mess
In September 2008, amid the financial panic and collapse of the housing market, the federal government bailed out and took control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two government-sponsored enterprises that dominated the mortgage market.
WSJ | Fed Reports Modest Growth
The U.S. economy expanded and the labor market improved a little in January and February, amid higher payroll taxes and lingering uncertainty over Washington's spending plans, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday.
Mercatus | Resolving Too-Big-To-Fail Banks in the United States
This paper looks at the historical treatment of troubled banks by the FDIC. It examines how the FDIC resolves troubled banks and the sources of funds available to it in the event resolutions are costly. This examination focuses on the treatment of big versus small troubled banks to assess the importance of the TBTF issue.
Blogs
Economist | Institutions matter, a lot
"Why Nations Fail", the ambitious work by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson attempting to explain historical differences in economic development levels, is a flawed book.
Heritage Foundation | The EPA: An Impediment to Economic Recovery
The rapid pace and severity of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations on the energy sector during the past four years illustrates an ongoing problem—the government’s impediment to an economic recovery.
Calculated Risk | No Government Shutdown on March 27th?
Imagine going six months without a manufactured crisis? Maybe it will happen. I expect the Senate will restore some of the sequestration cuts, but this sounds like a little progress.
