News
Bloomberg | Euro-Area Manufacturing Contracted for 21st Month in April
Euro-area manufacturing output contracted for a 21st straight month in April, adding to pressure on the European Central Bank to cut interest rates to spur lending and growth.
National Journal | Has Washington Given Up on the Economy?
It seems like ages since the passionate, months-long presidential campaign fought largely over how to help the middle class and rev up job creation.
Bloomberg | Trade Deficit in U.S. Narrowed More Than Forecast in March
The U.S. trade deficit narrowed more than forecast in March to its second-lowest level in three years as imports of consumer goods and business equipment declined.
Market Watch | U.S. productivity climbs 0.7% in first quarter
U.S. workers and businesses improved their productivity in the first quarter after a sharp drop in the waning months of 2012, the government reported Thursday.
Washington Times | Stocks sink as economic outlook dims; Dow off 138
The stock market fell the most in two weeks as the outlook for the economy grew dimmer. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 138 points to close at 14,701 Wednesday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 dropped 14 to 1,582. The Nasdaq lost 29 points to 3,299.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Daily Caller | Does the free market cause wealth inequality?
The wealth gap is a serious problem. The richest 20 percent of Americans now own 80 percent of the country’s wealth. Over the past three decades, the average American has seen his income either fall or remain flat.
New Republic | Calculating the dollars-and-cents costs of policy uncertainty
Two kinds of uncertainty affect our decisions—the unpredictability of the world, and the instability that indecision about law and policy creates. The former is perennial and ineradicable; the latter varies with the character of governance.
CRS | Counting Regulations: An Overview of Rulemaking, Types of Federal Regulations, and Pages in the Federal Register
Federal rulemaking is an important mechanism through which the federal government implements policy. Federal agencies issue regulations pursuant to statutory authority granted by Congress.
Heritage Foundation | Red Tape Rising: Regulation in Obama’s First Term
Congress and the White House have been focused for months on the federal budget—rightfully so, given perennial deficits and unsustainable levels of U.S. debt. However, federal spending accounts for only a portion of the burden placed on Americans by the government.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Morning Bell: 5 Ways the Immigration Bill Is Like Obamacare
Congress rammed Obamacare through without many Members even reading the bill. Now it’s applying that same frantic, complex, pie-in-the-sky legislating to immigration. The similarities are frightening.
