News
Market Watch | NFIB small-business optimism index edges up
Small-business optimism edged higher in November on plans to increase employment and to expand, according to a survey released Tuesday. The National Federation of Independent Business said its small-business optimism index rose 0.9 points to 92.5.
CNN Money | Improving economy: Is it for real?
For the last five years, the story of the economic recovery has felt like one giant fake-out after another.
Market Watch | Good luck buying big city real estate next year
The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced on Friday that it will lower the loan limits for its Federal Housing Administration mortgage — a loan used by many first-time and lower-income home buyers — from $729,750 to $625,500. The FHA insures mortgages that banks give to borrowers who make small down payments. Congress raised FHA mortgage caps six years ago in the wake of the downturn.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Investors | Dodd-Frank: Too Convoluted To Succeed
ObamaCare is only one of the president's crumbling initiatives. Five years ago this September, the Lehman Bros. investment bank collapsed. Markets around the world froze until Western governments devised a massive bailout plan that kept investors from pulling trillions out of the global financial system and precipitating a worldwide depression.
USA Today | Obama can't solve the jobs problem
Last week, President Obama gave a much-touted speech on "income inequality." But while inequality is a valid concern, it's not so clear that unequal incomes are the biggest problem America faces.
Politico | Income Inequality’s Ripple Effect
Last week, Barack Obama, delivering the clearest and most powerful economic policy speech of his presidency at an event sponsored by the Center for American Progress, identified “the combined trends of increased inequality and decreasing mobility” as “the defining challenge of our time.”
Fortune | American Infrastructure raises $800 million fund
American Infrastructure MLP Fund has closed its second investment fund with $800 million in capital commitments, Fortune has learned. The Foster City, Calif.-based firm originally targeted $750 million, and now manages over $1.5 billion in total capital (including co-investment opportunities afforded LPs).
AEI | Income inequality revisionism
To consider only the seen while neglecting the unseen, as 19th-century political economist Frederic Bastiat warned, risks cognitive errors. Policymakers must try to imagine the counterfactual when making a decision, taking an action, or analyzing history.
Blogs
Café Hayek | Three Non-Economic Ways of Thinking
The first ‘other’ way of thinking is the undisciplined way of thinking (at least about most economic matters). It is probably the most common ‘other’ way of thinking. This way of thinking mistakes results (such as high wages) for causes of the very results that are desired (such as high wages).
