News
CNN Money | Federal housing offices to close in worst foreclosure areas
The federal housing department, which handles such things as emergency placements for the evicted and the newly homeless, is slated to shutter its office in the area within the next four months.
National Journal | Is a Sequester Tipping Point Coming?
When $85 billion in broad spending cuts went into effect in March the world didn't end. Kids weren't kicked out of school en masse, hundreds of thousands weren't laid off, the economy didn't tank. Sequestration was overhyped and the deluge never came. But it may begin to pour this summer.
FOX Business | May Housing Starts, Permits Miss Expectations
U.S. housing starts rose less than expected in May, likely reflecting labor and material constraints, but the overall trend remained consistent with strength in the housing market.
Bloomberg | Abenomics Mobilizes Japan Homebuyers to Action: Mortgages
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s pledge to end 15 years of deflation has prompted the nation’s biggest banks to raise mortgage rates, mobilizing people like Karin Abe to buy a home four years earlier than he had planned.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Politico | Big government’s negative impact
Benghazi neglected, IRS targeting, DOJ press investigations, Job Corps overspending, secret White House emails, phone taps, etc. The number of mounting scandals in Washington is leaving America churning in uncertainty.
Bloomberg | G-8 Leaders See Worst Over for World Economy After Summit
Leaders of the Group of Eight nations said the worst has passed for the global economy following summit talks on promoting employment and growth.
Forbes | The American Oil & Gas Industry Is Rescuing The Obama Economy
In Comeback: America’s New Economic Boom, author Charles Morris refers to “the new X-factor, the American energy advantage.” The “game changer”—shale oil and gas technology and production—has put the United States and Canada in the world’s leading economic saddle.
Blogs
Calculated Risk | Fed: Household Debt Service Ratio near lowest level in 30+ years
The Federal Reserve released the Q1 2013 Household Debt Service and Financial Obligations Ratios yesterday. I used to track this quarterly back in 2005 and 2006 to point out that households were taking on excessive financial obligations.
Heritage Foundation | Natural Gas Exports: Remove Government Barriers
Currently, the U.S. can freely export LNG to another country only if it has a free trade agreement with that country. Requests to export to the rest of the world must be approved by the Department of Energy (DOE) on a case-by-case basis. This results in costly delays.
