News
CNN Money | What next for Cyprus?
The tiny nation with giant banks and a crushing government debt has soundly rejected a €10 billion bailout offer from the European Union because of public revulsion over the main string attached: a tax on bank deposits.
Bloomberg | Freddie Mac Sues Multiple Banks Over Libor Manipulation
Freddie Mac (FMCC) sued Bank of America Corp., UBS AG (UBSN), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and a dozen other banks over alleged manipulation of the London interbank offered rate, saying the mortgage financier suffered substantial losses as a result of the companies’ conduct.
CNN Money | America's infrastructure is finally getting a bit better
America's recent wave of infrastructure spending is beginning to pay off.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Politico | The reality of high-frequency trading
Is high-frequency trading a threat to our financial markets or an important innovation that benefits today’s investors? Judging by the rhetoric coming from some in Washington and elsewhere, it’s easy to perceive high-frequency trading as a one-sided battle pitting merciless, lightning-fast machines against earnest but doomed investors.
NY Times | Lesson Learned After Financial Crisis: Nothing Much Has Changed
We’ve been told that so many times since the near-death experiences of the financial crisis. Bankers and regulators have flipped roles: now it’s the bankers who are cautious and their overseers who are aggressive.
AEI | Do special enterprise zones undermine capitalism and our safety?
Smugglers are adept at taking advantage of the myriad tariffs and tax rates between jurisdictions. With increasingly cheap globalized transport and tax free zones cropping up all over the globe, smugglers, terrorist financiers and organized crime have found boundless illicit opportunities.
Blogs
WSJ | Is Economy Facing Another False Spring?
Many economists expect growth to slow some from the first quarter of the year into the second quarter as federal spending policies start to bite. Still, they don’t see a repeat of the past three years, when hopeful starts gave way to discouraging summers.
WSJ | Houses Are Getting Bigger Again
The sequester will hurt government spending, and higher taxes may slow consumer spending. But the U.S. housing sector looks willing and able to be an important contributor to growth this year.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Health Care
News
Politico | Under new health law, battles over who’ll do what
Pharmacists in Alabama want to be allowed to provide therapeutic inserts for shoes of diabetics.
National Journal | Obamacare at Age 3: Still Too Young for Prognosis
The Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration’s signature attempt to broadly transform the health care system, marks its third anniversary this weekend. And it is still very much a toddler.
CNN Money | States eye private insurance for Medicaid expansion enrollees
Republican state lawmakers may not want to expand Medicaid, but some are warming up to the idea of using federal funds to buy private insurance for the poor.
Politico | Under new health law, battles over who’ll do what
Pharmacists in Alabama want to be allowed to provide therapeutic inserts for shoes of diabetics.
National Journal | Obamacare at Age 3: Still Too Young for Prognosis
The Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration’s signature attempt to broadly transform the health care system, marks its third anniversary this weekend. And it is still very much a toddler.
CNN Money | States eye private insurance for Medicaid expansion enrollees
Republican state lawmakers may not want to expand Medicaid, but some are warming up to the idea of using federal funds to buy private insurance for the poor.
Monetary
News
Bloomberg | Bernanke Seen Keeping Up Pace of QE Until Fourth Quarter
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will probably start reducing the Federal Reserve’s $85 billion in monthly bond buying no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2013, economists said in a Bloomberg survey.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Forbes | The Budget Stalemate Shows The Need For Monetary Reform
The introduction last week of two bills by the Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) that would require a serious look at monetary policy suddenly makes such a breakthrough a real possibility. Progress on monetary reform is the overlooked, all important variable that will shape the outlook for financial markets, economic growth and the prospect for balancing the budget of federal, state and local governments, to say nothing of the budget of the average American family.
WSJ | The Fed's Stress Tests Add Risk to the Financial System
On March 14, after the markets closed, the 29 banks that hold about three-fourths of U.S. banking assets waited to hear if they passed or failed the Federal Reserve's annual stress tests. The results seemed reassuring. The Fed gave a passing grade to 14 and a failing grade to two, required two others to address some additional weakness by later this year, and didn't disclose its conclusions about the 11 smaller institutions.
Blogs
Economist | A turning point
Today, the Federal Open Market Committee is beginning a two day meeting. Tomorrow, the Fed will release new economic projections, and Ben Bernanke will answer questions on Fed policy at an afternoon press conference.
Bloomberg | Bernanke Seen Keeping Up Pace of QE Until Fourth Quarter
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will probably start reducing the Federal Reserve’s $85 billion in monthly bond buying no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2013, economists said in a Bloomberg survey.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Forbes | The Budget Stalemate Shows The Need For Monetary Reform
The introduction last week of two bills by the Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) that would require a serious look at monetary policy suddenly makes such a breakthrough a real possibility. Progress on monetary reform is the overlooked, all important variable that will shape the outlook for financial markets, economic growth and the prospect for balancing the budget of federal, state and local governments, to say nothing of the budget of the average American family.
WSJ | The Fed's Stress Tests Add Risk to the Financial System
On March 14, after the markets closed, the 29 banks that hold about three-fourths of U.S. banking assets waited to hear if they passed or failed the Federal Reserve's annual stress tests. The results seemed reassuring. The Fed gave a passing grade to 14 and a failing grade to two, required two others to address some additional weakness by later this year, and didn't disclose its conclusions about the 11 smaller institutions.
Blogs
Economist | A turning point
Today, the Federal Open Market Committee is beginning a two day meeting. Tomorrow, the Fed will release new economic projections, and Ben Bernanke will answer questions on Fed policy at an afternoon press conference.
Taxes
News
WSJ | City's Tax Plan Vexes Homeowners
A shake-up of the way this city levies property taxes has sparked divided reactions among Philadelphians, as homeowners in recently gentrified neighborhoods fear hefty increases in their bills but other residents—and some owners of commercial buildings—are enjoying the prospect of paying less.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | Washington still not serious about corporate tax reform
We avoided the “fiscal cliff” — for now. Sequestration is upon us. The next looming opportunity for a fight between Congress and President Obama over taxing and spending is March 27, when current fiscal year funding for federal government operations ends. Will that be the moment when our elected officials finally get serious about corporate tax reform?
WSJ | The Revenue Deficit From Progressive Tax Rates
The two policies that national Democrats blame for massively unbalanced federal budgets—the Bush tax cuts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—have been largely repealed. Yet deficits are projected to average $700 billion a year over the next decade before rising again to $1 trillion.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Ways and Means Small Business Tax Reform Proposal a Positive Step
Under the leadership of Chairman Dave Camp (R–MI), the House Ways and Means Committee released draft legislation for improving the tax treatment of small business.
WSJ | City's Tax Plan Vexes Homeowners
A shake-up of the way this city levies property taxes has sparked divided reactions among Philadelphians, as homeowners in recently gentrified neighborhoods fear hefty increases in their bills but other residents—and some owners of commercial buildings—are enjoying the prospect of paying less.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | Washington still not serious about corporate tax reform
We avoided the “fiscal cliff” — for now. Sequestration is upon us. The next looming opportunity for a fight between Congress and President Obama over taxing and spending is March 27, when current fiscal year funding for federal government operations ends. Will that be the moment when our elected officials finally get serious about corporate tax reform?
WSJ | The Revenue Deficit From Progressive Tax Rates
The two policies that national Democrats blame for massively unbalanced federal budgets—the Bush tax cuts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—have been largely repealed. Yet deficits are projected to average $700 billion a year over the next decade before rising again to $1 trillion.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Ways and Means Small Business Tax Reform Proposal a Positive Step
Under the leadership of Chairman Dave Camp (R–MI), the House Ways and Means Committee released draft legislation for improving the tax treatment of small business.
Employment
News
WSJ | Jobless Aid Shrinks Unevenly
Workers across the country are seeing the length of their jobless benefits pared back, a shakeout that is playing out unevenly and pinching people in states still struggling with unemployment above the national average.
Blogs
WSJ | How Long Can You Receive Unemployment Benefits?
At the height of the jobs crisis, unemployment benefits lasted as long as 99 weeks in many states. Today, they last less than half that long in many states. The situation in Michigan, where unemployed workers will soon qualify for a maximum of about 49 weeks of benefits, helps explain the three major factors behind the reduction.
WSJ | Jobless Aid Shrinks Unevenly
Workers across the country are seeing the length of their jobless benefits pared back, a shakeout that is playing out unevenly and pinching people in states still struggling with unemployment above the national average.
Blogs
WSJ | How Long Can You Receive Unemployment Benefits?
At the height of the jobs crisis, unemployment benefits lasted as long as 99 weeks in many states. Today, they last less than half that long in many states. The situation in Michigan, where unemployed workers will soon qualify for a maximum of about 49 weeks of benefits, helps explain the three major factors behind the reduction.
Budget
News
Politico | Mr. Penny vs. a Dragon: Hey Kids, It's the National Debt!
Washington’s budget squabbles and financial fights are enough to tangle up anyone’s head — one can only imagine how it might confuse children.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | Escaping the deficit spending trap
The recent budget proposal by Rep. Paul Ryan has demonstrated that achieving a balanced budget is not impossible. Yet while it is technically possible, it is politically close to impossible.
Heritage Foundation | Senate Budget Tax Plan: Murray’s Tax Increases Trade Economic Growth for Revenue
Senate Budget Committee chairwoman Patty Murray (D–WA) unveiled the first Senate budget in four years. Murray deserves some credit for actually advancing a budget, but her budget contains steep tax increases that would reduce economic growth by increasing the cost of capital investment.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | The RSC Budget: A First Look
The Republican Study Committee (RSC) has proposed a budget that balances in just four years while holding tax revenue at near its historical average. It advances more aggressive entitlement reforms than the House Budget Committee plan, including Social Security, and features deeper spending cuts.
Politico | Mr. Penny vs. a Dragon: Hey Kids, It's the National Debt!
Washington’s budget squabbles and financial fights are enough to tangle up anyone’s head — one can only imagine how it might confuse children.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | Escaping the deficit spending trap
The recent budget proposal by Rep. Paul Ryan has demonstrated that achieving a balanced budget is not impossible. Yet while it is technically possible, it is politically close to impossible.
Heritage Foundation | Senate Budget Tax Plan: Murray’s Tax Increases Trade Economic Growth for Revenue
Senate Budget Committee chairwoman Patty Murray (D–WA) unveiled the first Senate budget in four years. Murray deserves some credit for actually advancing a budget, but her budget contains steep tax increases that would reduce economic growth by increasing the cost of capital investment.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | The RSC Budget: A First Look
The Republican Study Committee (RSC) has proposed a budget that balances in just four years while holding tax revenue at near its historical average. It advances more aggressive entitlement reforms than the House Budget Committee plan, including Social Security, and features deeper spending cuts.
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