News
Bloomberg | Productivity in U.S. Rises Above Forecast as Output Grows
The productivity of U.S. workers rose more than projected in the second quarter as the world’s largest economy expanded.
Bloomberg | Euro-Area Exports Increase 3% as Inflation Holds Below 2%
Euro-area exports increased for the first time in three months, led by a rebound in Germany, while inflation held steady at 1.6 percent as the economy gathers strength after the longest recession since the debut of the single currency.
Politico | 'Obama phone' supporters at odds
Less than two years after regulators overhauled the low-income phone service known as Lifeline, supporters are turning on each other over additional reforms. Their biggest beef: how to deliver the phones.
CNN Money | Shrimp shortage leads to record high prices
Shrimp prices are skyrocketing to all-time highs, amid a disease that's plaguing the three largest prawn producers: Thailand, China and Vietnam. White shrimp prices are nearing $6 a pound, up 56% from a year ago, according to an Urner Barry index.
Bloomberg | Housing Starts in U.S. Rise on Multifamily Properties
New-home construction in the U.S. climbed in July, reflecting a rebound in multifamily projects that overshadowed a slowdown in single-family properties.
Econ Comments & Analysis
NY Times | No Banker Left Behind
The Detroit bankruptcy case has been cast as a contest between bondholders and pensioners that can be resolved only by shared sacrifice.
Washington Times | The ‘new’ NLRB
President Obama’s environmental regulations and tax increases are job killers enough, and now employers must also deal with a fully reconstituted National Labor Relations Board, with two new Democrats and two new Republicans. Mark Pearce, a Democrat, is a holdover as board chairman, which gives the Democrats a 3 to 2 advantage. They’re likely to use the advantage to their partisan advantage. The unions have waited, not so patiently, for the day.
Politico | If Congress won't lead, states and cities will
Americans cringe at Washington’s dysfunction, and rightly so: This Congress could become the least effective one in decades. Partisan divides are keeping much-needed solutions to immigration, education reform, and deficit reduction out of reach. So it’s not surprising that state and local leaders across the country are bypassing Washington and charting their own course for action.
Mercatus | The Social Responsibility of Economists
In the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008, the economics profession has been criticized for its apparent complicity in promoting the interests of corporations and the financial industry at the expense of the public interest, which has resulted in increased scrutiny of professional economic ethics.
AEI | Tips for millennials who want a mortgage
Millennials – those born in the 1980s or 1990s – have been raised with lofty American dreams of going to college and owning their own home. However, such dreams are expensive and have already placed millennials in debt. According to The Project on Student Debt, the average amount of student loan debt for the Class of 2011 was $26,600. As our generation moves out into the workforce, already burdened with student debt, how can we successfully take on mortgages?
