News
FOX News | US trade gap narrows to $40.6 billion as American oil sales boost exports to record level.
The U.S. trade deficit fell in October, helped by a jump in overseas oil sales that lifted American exports to an all-time high.
Bloomberg | Sales of New Homes in U.S. Surge by Most in Three Decades
Purchases of new U.S. homes surged in October by the most in three decades, signaling buyers are starting to take higher mortgage rates in stride.
CNN Money | New mortgage rules may mean less choice
New rules launching early next year designed to make mortgages safer may result in less choice for borrowers.
Bloomberg | Service Industries in U.S. Grow at Slower Pace Than Forecast
The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index dropped to 53.9, the lowest in five months, from 55.4 in the prior month, the Tempe, Arizona-based group said today. A gauge above 50 shows expansion. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists was 55.
FOX Business | World Economy Slowly Gains Traction
Global growth was modest and a tepid expansion in the euro zone masked a growing disparity among its key members last month, data showed on Wednesday.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | Even Democrats realize Obama won’t fix economy
As President Obama approaches the end of his fifth year in office, he’s nearing the time for his annual report card. It isn’t a pretty picture.
AEI | Republicans must step up and lead the fight for free trade
In the modern era, Republicans have espoused free trade — and free trade agreements (FTAs) — as extensions of their domestic goals to foster vigorous market competition and limit government intervention on behalf of favored protectionist interests.
CATO | Five Food-Stamp Myths
As budget negotiators lurch toward their December 13 deadline for funding the government, another conference committee is struggling to reach an agreement over the farm bill. Unsurprisingly, the dispute is not over the bill’s completely unjustifiable subsidies for agribusiness (both parties support those) but food stamps.
Blogs
Economist | Glorious revolutions and their discontents
I the last two decades, economists have become increasingly interested in how institutions contribute to economic growth. They are particularly enthused by the view that institutions guaranteeing a “credible commitment” to liberal limits on state action—and repayment of the national debt—caused the industrial revolution to get off the ground in eighteenth-century England.
WSJ | New Brookings Center to Study Clash Between Fiscal and Monetary Policy
The Brookings Institution is bringing a new player into Washington’s think tank arena, launching a center to study fiscal and monetary policy that will be led by The Wall Street Journal’s David Wessel.
