News
CNN Money | Automakers are getting crushed in Europe
Europe's deteriorating economy is wreaking havoc on global automakers, as car sales across the continent have sunk to their lowest level since the mid-1990s.
Econ Comments & Analysis
NY Times | Canada’s Oil Minister, Unmuzzled
The last time your friendly scribe sought an interview with Joe Oliver, Canada’s minister of natural resources, he was turned down flat. It was February last year.
Bloomberg | Obama Wants to Make Sure You Don’t Retire Rich
A bullet point on Page 18 of President Barack Obama’s 2014 budget sounds ominous: “Prohibit Individuals from Accumulating Over $3 Million in Tax-Preferred Retirement Accounts.” That it appears in a section titled “Strengthening the Middle Class” is odd since such a proposal would seem to undermine the goal.
Politico | Conservatives’ grand opportunity on energy
It’s rough when your campaign photo has you pictured in outdated eyeglasses, but you’ve already printed hundreds of signs. What do you do? You can’t throw away the signs. And you can’t update your glasses. So you just keep wearing those outdated frames for the current cycle — and your children cringe.
National Journal | Being In the Middle Class Means Worrying About Falling Behind
Americans still believe they can reach for the stars, but they are increasingly fearful they are standing on a trapdoor as they try.
NBER | How Elastic Are Preferences for Redistribution? Evidence from Randomized Survey Experiments
This paper analyzes the effects of information about inequality and taxes on preferences for redistribution using randomized online surveys on Amazon Mechanical Turk (mTurk).
Blogs
WSJ | Why Housing Won’t Save the U.S. Economy
New home sales during the first quarter stood at their highest level for any first quarter since 2008, boosting hopes that housing could help power the economy through a painfully slow recovery.
Heritage Foundation | Time to Rethink Federal Highway Trust Fund Spending
The Highway Trust Fund (HTF), which funds most surface interstate transportation programs, from roads to bridges, faces insolvency in a few short years. In a House Budget Hearing today, one witness—Robert Poole of the Reason Foundation—offered lawmakers a near-term solution akin to what The Heritage Foundation has proposed: Recommit HTF revenue to funding highway and bridge programs only.
