News
Bloomberg | OECD Lifts European Growth Forecasts on Recovery
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development lifted its growth forecasts for Germany, France and the U.K. while urging the region’s most-indebted nations to step up changes to improve competitiveness.
National Journal | Whose Economy Is It?
A national gathering of fiscal conservatives was the ideal setting for Florida Gov. Rick Scott to test-drive the central message of his reelection campaign: The state's economy is improving on my watch after fizzling under my Obama-friendly predecessor, Charlie Crist.
Bloomberg | Construction Spending in U.S. Climbed in July to Four-Year High
Construction spending in the U.S. increased in July to the highest level in four years, propelled by gains in residential real estate.
CNN Money | U.S. manufacturing picks up
Activity at U.S. factories continued to pick up in August, another sign of a recovery in global manufacturing.
Bloomberg | Black Homeownership Dying Where Obama Revitalized
Helene Pearson’s belief in homeownership was shattered in Roseland, the mostly black Chicago neighborhood where President Barack Obama got his start as a community organizer.
Econ Comments & Analysis
CNN Money | Are we ready for the next meltdown?
Okay, folks. It's been five years since Lehman Brothers failed, setting off a chain of unanticipated consequences that came within inches of melting down the world's financial system.
Washington Times | The Obamanomics decline
Fewer Americans will be returning to the work force after the traditional Labor Day holiday. Labor force participation is at the lowest point since the malaise of the Carter presidency. President Obama’s economic policies have guaranteed a lower standard of living for Americans.
Washington Times | Ending flaky trade barriers
Cornflakes are one of the most popular breakfast foods in the world, and 15 years ago, Norway banned them.
NBER | The Decline, Rebound, and Further Rise in SNAP Enrollment: Disentangling Business Cycle Fluctuations and Policy Changes
Approximately 1-in-7 people and 1-in-4 children received benefits from the US Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in July 2011, both all-time highs.
Blogs
Economist | What was the Great Divergence?
A few centuries ago it would have been difficult to tell Europe apart from the rest of the world—in economic terms, at least. Indeed, half a millenium ago Europe might justly have been considered a laggard. The three inventions which, in the words of Karl Marx, “ushered in bourgeois society” were not invented in Europe. Gunpowder, the compass and the printing press were probably all invented in China.
WSJ | Vital Signs: Demand for Factory Goods Soars
Manufacturers wrote up more orders in August, supporting the idea that the factory sector is back in expansion mode this quarter. The Institute for Supply Management’s survey of manufacturers showed its new orders index increased to 63.2 in August from 58.3 in July.
Economist | Against the tide
With each great rush of capital into or out of a region of the world, and with the blooming of crisis that seems inevitably to follow such swings, macroeconomists inch ever further away from the assumption that free capital flows are always and everywhere a good thing.
