News
Bloomberg | German Industrial Production Increased in February
German industrial output rebounded in February, adding to signs that Europe’s largest economy is stabilizing after a contraction in the fourth quarter.
Washington Times | Fracking support becomes bipartisan as both parties see economic benefits
As he weighs whether to allow fracking in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is under intense pressure from the oil and gas industry, Republican lawmakers and long-struggling communities eager to see the drilling technique jump-start the state’s economy.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Forbes | The Stock Markets Are Forecasting Economic Stagnation, Not Recovery
A number of commentators, some of them friends, have been declaring that current stock market valuations prove that the economy is in full recovery. They think that the market reflects high levels of optimism about the future and that this means that the economy is in a V-shaped recovery, or that we’re about to enter a phase of strong economic growth. Not so fast.
Washington Post | Myths of post-industrial America
We live in a post-industrial age, defined more by Google than by General Motors. The term “post-industrial society” was first popularized by the sociologist Daniel Bell (1919-2011) in a 1973 book, and the change has generally been a boon.
Washington Times | The sleepy economy
Not even Vice President Joe Biden, the barker of bonhomie who sees something good in just about any headline, can put a gloss on Friday’s news: The economy created a net of only 88,000 jobs in March, not the 200,000 or so expected. Unemployment is “down” to 7.6 percent, but only because so many jobseekers have abandoned hope in the face of daunting odds.
Blogs
Economist | Rationalising the ridiculous
Markets may turn out to be wrong, or they may turn out to be right. Given uncertainty, however, it would be wrong to call them out-and-out irrational.
Market Watch | Will retail sales join the spring swoon?
Manufacturers are growing more leery. Service providers are more cautious. Companies are slowing their hiring.
WSJ | Home-Price Gains May Be Overstated
After controlling for certain technical factors, home prices on a national basis in 2012 probably rose by 3% to 4%, rather than the 7% to 8% reported by key gauges such as the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index, the Goldman analysts said.
