News
Bloomberg | Consumers’ Outlooks on U.S. Economy Improve to Five-Month High
Consumers’ economic outlook improved in May to its best reading in five months, showing Americans are looking beyond the current slowdown to a rebound in growth later this year.
FOX Business | Lacker: Time for Fed to Get Out of Mortgage Market
An improving U.S. housing market suggests it is time for the Federal Reserve to stop aiming its stimulus at the real estate sector, Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker said on Wednesday.
CNN Money | Apartment construction slows sharply
A sharp pullback in apartment and condominium construction led to a big decline in overall home building in April, even as single-family home construction remained strong, according to government data released Thursday.
Bloomberg | Wal-Mart Second-Quarter Forecast Trails Estimates
Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT)., the world’s largest retailer, forecast second-quarter profit that was less than analysts estimated as consumers struggle amid the slow U.S. economy and higher taxes.
WSJ | Euro Zone Runs Record Trade Surplus
The trade surplus for the 17 nations that use the euro hit its highest level in March since records began in 1999, driven by a sharp rise in exports and a decline in imports.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Real Clear Energy | North Dakota Proves Obama Doesn't Get Energy
The Bakken and Three Forks formations in North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana contain significantly more oil-and-gas resources than previously thought, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reassessment. The survey found an estimated 7.4 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable shale oil (resources that can be recovered with current technology but whose precise location is unknown), double its 2008 assessment. The reassessment also found three times as much recoverable natural gas than previously believed to exist.
WSJ | Europe's Sinking Feeling
The latest growth figures for the euro zone are in, and pretty they are not. Italy's economy shrank for the seventh quarter in a row. France reported its second consecutive quarter of contraction, pushing it into recession. The currency bloc as a whole shrank for the sixth straight quarter.
Forbes | Don't Cry For Me, America: Comparing Argentina And The United States
Many observers have pondered if the United States is following the same troubled path as Argentina. In the 1940s, Argentina’s Juan Domingo Perón used government agencies for political gain and created a popular form of fascism called Perónism. In the United States, the recent revelation of the Internal Revenue Service targeting political enemies is a bad omen. Are we on an Argentinean course?
Washington Post | The rich can save Social Security, by giving up their checks
In the aftermath of 9/11, many young, strong Americans enlisted, willingly agreeing to sacrifice their lives if necessary to protect our country’s interests. Today’s wealthiest Americans have the same opportunity to put their country’s interests before their own. Politicians should not shy away from asking them to put forth not their lives but what are, for them, their modest Social Security checks.
Blogs
Economist | What the euro has meant
According to Eurostat's first estimate, output in the euro area shrank 0.2% from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the first of 2013 and fell 1% year-on-year. The euro zone has been in recession since the third quarter of 2011.
WSJ | Sorry, World, U.S. Consumers Can’t Save You
To the consternation of U.S. manufacturers and probably Federal Reserve officials, American consumers are being asked — once again — to be Shoppers to the World.
