News
Bloomberg | China Manufacturing Expands at Faster Pace, PMIs Show
China’s manufacturing expanded at a faster pace last month, indicating a recovery in the world’s second-largest economy is sustaining momentum.
CNBC | Prolonged Winter Puts Retail Sales in Deep Freeze
Abnormally cold weather curbs consumer demand for spring goods and apparel, but some companies, including drug chains and dollar stores, are benefiting from the spring's delay.
Bloomberg | State Economies Show Most Gains Since Before Recession
The economic health of 44 U.S. states improved in the fourth quarter, the most in any period since 2006, as almost all benefited from growing employment and personal income.
Market Watch | March ISM index drops to 51.3% from 54.2%
The pace of expansion in the U.S. manufacturing sector slowed sharply in March to the lowest level since December, according to the closely followed ISM index.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Post | America’s trade muddle
Americans have a love-hate relationship with foreign trade. In the marketplace, we’re enthusiasts. During 2012, we scarfed up $2.3 trillion in imports: cars, computers, clothes, smartphones, shoes, toys, oil and much more. We are also eager exporters, though not as successful, peddling $1.6 trillion last year in jets, tractors, pharmaceuticals and corn, among other things.
Washington Times | Groundbreaking American energy revolution
According to the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), the Eagle Ford shale play pumped $61 billion into the South Texas economy in 2012 and supported 116,000 jobs.Severance taxes on oil and gas production in the Eagle Ford brought in $374 million to the state of Texas’ coffers.
Washington Post | The April Fool’s economy
The economy seems to have done an about-face over the past three months after the bad dream that was the fiscal cliff came to an end. Housing is rebounding, businesses are hiring and shoppers are, well, shopping. Even the normally reserved Federal Reserve acknowledges that the economy is experiencing “moderate growth.” But we’ve been to this rodeo twice already.
Blogs
WSJ | Vital Signs Chart: Americans Save More
Americans are saving more. The personal-saving rate — which reflects how much people have left after spending and taxes — hit 2.6% in February from 2.2% in January.
Heritage Foundation | Income Inequality and Life Expectancy
Recently The Washington Post published an article claiming that the “widening gap in life expectancy” among America’s seniors “reflects perhaps the starkest outcome of our nation’s growing income inequality.”
Library of Economics | Major Premium
Economists usually talk about the college premium, but the college premium heavily depends on your major. At the same time, though, stronger students typically choose harder - and more lucrative - majors.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Health Care
News
Washington Times | Lawsuit over health care tax could kill ‘Obamacare’
“Obamacare” looks increasingly inevitable, but one lawsuit making its way through the court system could pull the plug on the sweeping federal health care law.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | Medicaid’s big white elephant
Easy money from the federal government is hard to resist. After all, it’s “free.” A key section of Obamacare makes states the offer they can’t refuse: Expand eligibility for Medicaid on an unrealistic scale, and Uncle Sam will hand over a big, fat check. A number of Republican governors have succumbed to this temptation, including Chris Christie in New Jersey, Rick Scott in Florida and Rick Snyder in Michigan. This is a dangerous bargain for us all.
Politico | Why Texas should not expand Medicaid
America is facing an entitlement spending crisis, with unfunded liabilities for Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid approaching $100 trillion. This is an outrageous situation that threatens our fiscal and economic well-being as a country. And few brave souls are tackling these problems to find real solutions. Maybe we should start with the smallest of the big three entitlement programs: Medicaid.
Blogs
NY Times | U.S. Health Care Prices Are the Elephant in the Room
Traditionally, the theory driving discussions on the high cost of health care in the United States has been that there is enormous waste in the system, taking the form of excess utilization of care. From that theory it follows that methods of controlling the growth of health spending should focus on ways to reduce the use of unnecessary or only marginally beneficial health care.
Washington Times | Lawsuit over health care tax could kill ‘Obamacare’
“Obamacare” looks increasingly inevitable, but one lawsuit making its way through the court system could pull the plug on the sweeping federal health care law.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | Medicaid’s big white elephant
Easy money from the federal government is hard to resist. After all, it’s “free.” A key section of Obamacare makes states the offer they can’t refuse: Expand eligibility for Medicaid on an unrealistic scale, and Uncle Sam will hand over a big, fat check. A number of Republican governors have succumbed to this temptation, including Chris Christie in New Jersey, Rick Scott in Florida and Rick Snyder in Michigan. This is a dangerous bargain for us all.
Politico | Why Texas should not expand Medicaid
America is facing an entitlement spending crisis, with unfunded liabilities for Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid approaching $100 trillion. This is an outrageous situation that threatens our fiscal and economic well-being as a country. And few brave souls are tackling these problems to find real solutions. Maybe we should start with the smallest of the big three entitlement programs: Medicaid.
Blogs
NY Times | U.S. Health Care Prices Are the Elephant in the Room
Traditionally, the theory driving discussions on the high cost of health care in the United States has been that there is enormous waste in the system, taking the form of excess utilization of care. From that theory it follows that methods of controlling the growth of health spending should focus on ways to reduce the use of unnecessary or only marginally beneficial health care.
Monetary
Econ Comments & Analysis
AEI | Resisting the 'new normal'
Let’s be optimistic and assume the U.S. economy grew 3 percent in the first quarter, adjusted for inflation (vs. 0.4 percent in last year’s fourth quarter, as the Commerce Department reported last week). That would be no small achievement.
Blogs
Economist | An unusual good news inflation story
Consumer spending has been surprisingly resilient in the face of a sharp rise in taxes and, more recently, higher petrol prices. It rose 0.3% (after inflation) in both January and February, the government reported this morning, and looks likely to rise at a 3% annual rate in the first quarter, a major reason many first quarter GDP growth estimates now top 3%.
WSJ | Fed’s Favorite Inflation Gauge Shows Little Pressure
Today’s government data included a twist on the inflation numbers which is worth watching. The inflation measure watched most closely by the Federal Reserve showed very little sign of price pressures, even though some other inflation measures have firmed up of late.
CATO | Can We Have An Evidence-Based Debate about the Future of the IMF?
It is far from obvious that the repeated bailouts to Greece, in which the IMF has participated, have done much to calm the financial markets or to help the country’s economy. Recall that Greece is still going through a recession deeper than the Great Depression, with youth unemployment at around 60 percent, and no signs of recovery.
AEI | Resisting the 'new normal'
Let’s be optimistic and assume the U.S. economy grew 3 percent in the first quarter, adjusted for inflation (vs. 0.4 percent in last year’s fourth quarter, as the Commerce Department reported last week). That would be no small achievement.
Blogs
Economist | An unusual good news inflation story
Consumer spending has been surprisingly resilient in the face of a sharp rise in taxes and, more recently, higher petrol prices. It rose 0.3% (after inflation) in both January and February, the government reported this morning, and looks likely to rise at a 3% annual rate in the first quarter, a major reason many first quarter GDP growth estimates now top 3%.
WSJ | Fed’s Favorite Inflation Gauge Shows Little Pressure
Today’s government data included a twist on the inflation numbers which is worth watching. The inflation measure watched most closely by the Federal Reserve showed very little sign of price pressures, even though some other inflation measures have firmed up of late.
CATO | Can We Have An Evidence-Based Debate about the Future of the IMF?
It is far from obvious that the repeated bailouts to Greece, in which the IMF has participated, have done much to calm the financial markets or to help the country’s economy. Recall that Greece is still going through a recession deeper than the Great Depression, with youth unemployment at around 60 percent, and no signs of recovery.
Taxes
News
CNN Money | France's Hollande wants 75% tax on rich
French President Francois Hollande made changes to his failed proposal for a 75% top tax rate on Thursday, shifting the burden of payment from individuals to businesses that pay salaries over 1 million euros.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | The Senate Gets Dynamic
Congress has a dreadful record predicting the economic impact of its policies, in part because it relies on computer models that are as reliable as tarot cards. So it's a good sign that before going on recess a majority of the Senate endorsed "dynamic scoring" of changes in tax law.
WSJ | Corporate-Tax Reform Without Tears
Economists have long recognized the damaging effects of the high U.S. corporate tax—at 35%, the rate is the highest in the industrialized world. Over the past few years, politicians in both parties have come to understand that the corporate tax system itself is dysfunctional, causing resources to be misallocated and encouraging corporations to invest overseas.
CNN Money | France's Hollande wants 75% tax on rich
French President Francois Hollande made changes to his failed proposal for a 75% top tax rate on Thursday, shifting the burden of payment from individuals to businesses that pay salaries over 1 million euros.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | The Senate Gets Dynamic
Congress has a dreadful record predicting the economic impact of its policies, in part because it relies on computer models that are as reliable as tarot cards. So it's a good sign that before going on recess a majority of the Senate endorsed "dynamic scoring" of changes in tax law.
WSJ | Corporate-Tax Reform Without Tears
Economists have long recognized the damaging effects of the high U.S. corporate tax—at 35%, the rate is the highest in the industrialized world. Over the past few years, politicians in both parties have come to understand that the corporate tax system itself is dysfunctional, causing resources to be misallocated and encouraging corporations to invest overseas.
Employment
News
National Journal | Sequester Slashes Help for Long-Term Unemployed
Out-of-work people are about to get another kick in the teeth this month, as the across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester begin to slash federal emergency unemployment checks by as much as 10.7 percent.
CNN Money | Wages stink at America's most common jobs
Workers in seven of the 10 largest occupations typically earn less than $30,000 a year, according to new data published Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's a far cry from the nation's average annual pay of $45,790.
Market Watch | The march in jobs continues, but how long?
A pile of evidence suggests the U.S. economy hit the accelerator in early 2013, but the improvement will go for naught if job creation suffers another letdown.
Washington Times | New York minimum wage hike to $9 could be paid by taxpayers
New York's legislature approved a budget that hikes the state’s minimum wage to $9 per hour. But taxpayers, not businesses, could actually be the responsible party for paying those extra wage costs, if a closed-door tax credit agreement among politicos made the final budget cut.
Blogs
Economist | America's jobless manufacturing renaissance
American manufacturing receives a lot of verbal abuse, but it has actually held up very well over the past few decades. Some sub-industries, like textile manufacturing, have been gutted.
National Journal | Sequester Slashes Help for Long-Term Unemployed
Out-of-work people are about to get another kick in the teeth this month, as the across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester begin to slash federal emergency unemployment checks by as much as 10.7 percent.
CNN Money | Wages stink at America's most common jobs
Workers in seven of the 10 largest occupations typically earn less than $30,000 a year, according to new data published Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's a far cry from the nation's average annual pay of $45,790.
Market Watch | The march in jobs continues, but how long?
A pile of evidence suggests the U.S. economy hit the accelerator in early 2013, but the improvement will go for naught if job creation suffers another letdown.
Washington Times | New York minimum wage hike to $9 could be paid by taxpayers
New York's legislature approved a budget that hikes the state’s minimum wage to $9 per hour. But taxpayers, not businesses, could actually be the responsible party for paying those extra wage costs, if a closed-door tax credit agreement among politicos made the final budget cut.
Blogs
Economist | America's jobless manufacturing renaissance
American manufacturing receives a lot of verbal abuse, but it has actually held up very well over the past few decades. Some sub-industries, like textile manufacturing, have been gutted.
Budget
News
Bloomberg | Treasuries’ Lure Abroad Grows in $3 Trillion Fed Account
International investors bought more Treasuries last quarter than any other start to a year since 2009, with holdings approaching $3 trillion, as a new crisis in Europe weighs on the euro and Japan debases the yen.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Politico | A fiscal deal or fiscal crisis?
Now that Congress and the president have agreed to fund the government for the rest of this fiscal year — removing the threat of a government shutdown — Washington should use this opportunity to get past the crisis-driven fiscal policy of recent years and put the focus squarely where it belongs: on the long term.
Bloomberg | Treasuries’ Lure Abroad Grows in $3 Trillion Fed Account
International investors bought more Treasuries last quarter than any other start to a year since 2009, with holdings approaching $3 trillion, as a new crisis in Europe weighs on the euro and Japan debases the yen.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Politico | A fiscal deal or fiscal crisis?
Now that Congress and the president have agreed to fund the government for the rest of this fiscal year — removing the threat of a government shutdown — Washington should use this opportunity to get past the crisis-driven fiscal policy of recent years and put the focus squarely where it belongs: on the long term.
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