News
Bloomberg | Euro-Area March Inflation Slows Less Than Estimated
Euro-area inflation slowed less than economists forecast in March as steeper price increases for services offset an easing in energy costs.
Bloomberg | Americans Seize Second Chance Mortgages Post-Foreclosure
Jason Schmitt lost his $90,000-a- year job at an oil rig in 2009. The bank repossessed his Tulsa, Oklahoma home and the former Army combat engineer went bankrupt. Last month, after moving with his family to his Missouri hometown, he got a Veterans Administration mortgage that lets borrowers buy property just two years after a foreclosure.
Market Watch | Annual home-price growth fastest since 2006
U.S. home prices rose 10.2% in February from the same period in the prior year, reaching the fastest year-over-year pace since bubble-era growth in 2006, according to a Wednesday report from analysis firm CoreLogic
Econ Comments & Analysis
National Journal | Is Chained CPI the Wrong Solution to the Right Problem?
When President Obama releases his budget next week, it may include what some tout as an elegant solution to the nation's fiscal problems, a way of measuring price changes known as “chained CPI.”
Real Clear Markets | Two California Economies Head In Different Directions
On Monday a judge ruled that Stockton, Ca. could enter bankruptcy. The city of 291,000 counts among its woes hundreds of millions of dollars in retirement promises it hasn't funded and hasn't been able to afford since a steep economic decline began several years ago. Today, unemployment in the Stockton metro area is a daunting 15.5 percent, which doesn't do much for the local tax base.
Blogs
WSJ | World-Wide Factory Activity, by Country
Manufacturing expanded at a slightly faster pace across much of the globe in March, but European woes weighed on the world-wide numbers.
Calculated Risk | ISM Non-Manufacturing Index indicates slower expansion in March
The March ISM Non-manufacturing index was at 54.4%, down from 56.0% in February. The employment index decreased in March to 53.3%, down from 57.2% in February. Note: Above 50 indicates expansion, below 50 contraction.
