News
CNN Money | The lucrative business of cigarette smuggling
Wanna make a quick $1,944,000? Buy a truckload of cigarettes in Virginia and sell them in New York.
National Journal | ‘Chained CPI’ Could Hit Middle-Class Retirees Hardest
When President Obama proposed so-called chained CPI in his 2014 budget, he outraged his Democratic base, the labor unions, and the AARP.
CNN Money | Home building rises to key milestone
The annual pace of housing starts topped 1 million for the first time in nearly five years in March, another sign of the rebound in the sector.
Market Watch | Industrial production up on utilities usage surge
Industrial production increased in March as consumers cranked up the heating, capping off the best quarter in a year for output in which demand for cars and construction supplies grew.
Washington Times | China’s economic slump staggers U.S., world markets
Global stock markets plunged on Monday after China reported that its economy grew more slowly in the first quarter — setting off a drop of more than 250 points in the Dow Jones index for the worst trading day of the year.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Market Watch | IMF lowers world, U.S. growth forecasts
The International Monetary Fund lowered its estimate of U.S. and global economic growth, as part of its world economic outlook the organization publishes twice a year.
Washington Times | From stagnation to prosperity to stagnation
The great tragedy of our time is that so few know economic history; thus we have been doomed to repeat the mistakes of a generation ago, and millions suffer.
Mercatus | How To Fix Our Broken Proxy Advisory System
A decade ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to require that every mutual fund and its investment adviser disclose “the policies and procedures that [they use] to determine how to vote proxies”
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | The High Cost of Offshore Wind: Is Cape Wind the Next Solyndra?
An estimated $2.6 billion offshore wind project near Massachusetts could be awarded a $350 million Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee and a 30 percent federal tax credit, according to recent reports.
Library of Economics | Physics Applied to Economics
I have been searching the web for the true nature of energy subsidies and all I can really ascertain is that the U.S. government is highly involved and in nearly every form of energy production in existence.
Café Hayek | Sachs on the economy and the future
This week’s EconTalk is Jeffrey Sachs talking about the economy, the recovery, the future, inequality, and a whole bunch of things. Lots of interesting ideas.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Health Care
News
Politico | President Obama's budget: Impact on health care
The health care sector saw some huge gains and losses in last week’s White House budget presented by President Barack Obama.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Fortune | Coming to a workplace near you: Fines for being fat?
CVS Caremark (CVS) recently made headlines for rolling out a $600 penalty on workers who fail to report biometric data such as weight, body fat, blood sugar, and cholesterol in an annual screening. The controversial move is likely just the start of a new wave of workplace programs that aim to encourage healthier employee behavior through targeted incentives.
Politico | President Obama's budget: Impact on health care
The health care sector saw some huge gains and losses in last week’s White House budget presented by President Barack Obama.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Fortune | Coming to a workplace near you: Fines for being fat?
CVS Caremark (CVS) recently made headlines for rolling out a $600 penalty on workers who fail to report biometric data such as weight, body fat, blood sugar, and cholesterol in an annual screening. The controversial move is likely just the start of a new wave of workplace programs that aim to encourage healthier employee behavior through targeted incentives.
Monetary
News
CNN Money | Gas, groceries and clothing cheaper in March
The price for a broad basket of consumer goods fell 0.2% in March, according to the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index. Compared to a year earlier, prices are up only 1.5%, a level of inflation that's considered benign.
Bloomberg | Draghi’s Pledge Means More to Euro Than Lower Rates
Mario Draghi’s pledge to safeguard the euro is proving a more powerful elixir for traders than the potential for lower interest rates as the region struggles to exit its second recession in four years.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Fortune | Why gold is falling even as global economic fears intensify
As gold plunges to new two-year lows, a paradox has emerged: The decline reflects better news in the U.S. economy, but it also suggests bad news in other parts of the world as bullion loses its luster as a safe-haven investment.
Market Watch | Fed's Plosser wants to start towards QE exit
The Federal Reserve should take two steps right away to prepare for the eventual exit from its ultra-loose monetary policy, Philadelphia Fed Bank President Charles Plosser said Tuesday.
CNN Money | Gas, groceries and clothing cheaper in March
The price for a broad basket of consumer goods fell 0.2% in March, according to the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index. Compared to a year earlier, prices are up only 1.5%, a level of inflation that's considered benign.
Bloomberg | Draghi’s Pledge Means More to Euro Than Lower Rates
Mario Draghi’s pledge to safeguard the euro is proving a more powerful elixir for traders than the potential for lower interest rates as the region struggles to exit its second recession in four years.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Fortune | Why gold is falling even as global economic fears intensify
As gold plunges to new two-year lows, a paradox has emerged: The decline reflects better news in the U.S. economy, but it also suggests bad news in other parts of the world as bullion loses its luster as a safe-haven investment.
Market Watch | Fed's Plosser wants to start towards QE exit
The Federal Reserve should take two steps right away to prepare for the eventual exit from its ultra-loose monetary policy, Philadelphia Fed Bank President Charles Plosser said Tuesday.
Taxes
News
WSJ | Tax Refunds Fall Due to Fiscal-Cliff Deal
The January budget deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff" has delayed refunds and boosted tax collections, helping to narrow the budget deficit and possibly giving lawmakers more time to craft an agreement to increase the federal government's debt ceiling.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Fortune | Cost of being Too Big to Fail: Now just $28 million
For the big banks, the Federal Reserve's stick remains pretty rubbery.
WSJ | Death Tax Made More Deadly
An abiding lesson of the Obama Presidency is that no tax increase is ever enough. So it's not surprising that the President's new budget includes an increase in the death tax only three months after the last increase.
Daily Caller | The gloomy prospects for tax reform
Is tax reform impossible? That’s a depressing topic to address on Tax Day, particularly since I’ve spent the past 20 years pushing for tax reform.
Real Clear Markets | The Medical Device Tax Hurts Weak, Strong, Sick and Healthy
Americans were reminded on April 15 about the painful financial burden that our government places on its citizens. Other taxes, while less visible, are also painful.
Bloomberg | As Tax Day Passes, the Tax Grope Begins
That is the attitude of Americans toward tax authorities. Citizens have resigned themselves to the new rates, official and public, that will apply this year to long-agreed-upon definitions of taxable income. Traditional income is fair game.
Blogs
Mercatus | Film Tax Credits Don't Give States An Economic Boost
From Massachusetts to North Carolina, Michigan and Iowa, a similar picture is emerging: Film tax credits don't deliver to state economies what they cost to treasuries and taxpayers.
CATO | Simplifying the Tax Code by Fixing the Base
The Sunlight Foundation blogs today about the 6,503 registered tax lobbyists in Washington, and they provide 11 examples of the changes that these folks are pushing for.
WSJ | Tax Refunds Fall Due to Fiscal-Cliff Deal
The January budget deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff" has delayed refunds and boosted tax collections, helping to narrow the budget deficit and possibly giving lawmakers more time to craft an agreement to increase the federal government's debt ceiling.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Fortune | Cost of being Too Big to Fail: Now just $28 million
For the big banks, the Federal Reserve's stick remains pretty rubbery.
WSJ | Death Tax Made More Deadly
An abiding lesson of the Obama Presidency is that no tax increase is ever enough. So it's not surprising that the President's new budget includes an increase in the death tax only three months after the last increase.
Daily Caller | The gloomy prospects for tax reform
Is tax reform impossible? That’s a depressing topic to address on Tax Day, particularly since I’ve spent the past 20 years pushing for tax reform.
Real Clear Markets | The Medical Device Tax Hurts Weak, Strong, Sick and Healthy
Americans were reminded on April 15 about the painful financial burden that our government places on its citizens. Other taxes, while less visible, are also painful.
Bloomberg | As Tax Day Passes, the Tax Grope Begins
That is the attitude of Americans toward tax authorities. Citizens have resigned themselves to the new rates, official and public, that will apply this year to long-agreed-upon definitions of taxable income. Traditional income is fair game.
Blogs
Mercatus | Film Tax Credits Don't Give States An Economic Boost
From Massachusetts to North Carolina, Michigan and Iowa, a similar picture is emerging: Film tax credits don't deliver to state economies what they cost to treasuries and taxpayers.
CATO | Simplifying the Tax Code by Fixing the Base
The Sunlight Foundation blogs today about the 6,503 registered tax lobbyists in Washington, and they provide 11 examples of the changes that these folks are pushing for.
Employment
Blogs
Washington Post | Interview: Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren on unemployment and the outlook for QE
Americans who have dropped out of the labor market could remain permanently unemployed if the Federal Reserve does not act aggressively enough to boost the job market, a top Federal Reserve official argued in a recent interview.
Washington Post | Interview: Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren on unemployment and the outlook for QE
Americans who have dropped out of the labor market could remain permanently unemployed if the Federal Reserve does not act aggressively enough to boost the job market, a top Federal Reserve official argued in a recent interview.
Budget
News
Politico | Congress's $91 billion budget gap
Nearly a month after the great budget debates of March, there’s no prospect soon of even appointing a formal House-Senate conference to try to resolve the differences. And rather than be the fall guy again, Appropriations Committee leaders are making plans to move ahead with what could be wildly different assumptions come May and June.
Econ Comments & Analysis
CATO | The Cyprus ‘Bail-In’ Exposes ‘Too Big To Fail’ as All Too Timid
The Cyprus bank “bailout” drama contains one major positive for U.S. observers: finally someone has found the courage to execute a credible solution to large bank failure that is not backstopped by taxpayers.
Blogs
CATO | Entitlement Spending Is America’s Biggest Fiscal Challenge, but Discretionary Spending Is Still Far too High
If America descends into Greek-style fiscal chaos, there’s no doubt that entitlement programs will be the main factor. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Disability are all fiscal train wrecks today, and the long-run outlook for these programs is frightful.
Politico | Congress's $91 billion budget gap
Nearly a month after the great budget debates of March, there’s no prospect soon of even appointing a formal House-Senate conference to try to resolve the differences. And rather than be the fall guy again, Appropriations Committee leaders are making plans to move ahead with what could be wildly different assumptions come May and June.
Econ Comments & Analysis
CATO | The Cyprus ‘Bail-In’ Exposes ‘Too Big To Fail’ as All Too Timid
The Cyprus bank “bailout” drama contains one major positive for U.S. observers: finally someone has found the courage to execute a credible solution to large bank failure that is not backstopped by taxpayers.
Blogs
CATO | Entitlement Spending Is America’s Biggest Fiscal Challenge, but Discretionary Spending Is Still Far too High
If America descends into Greek-style fiscal chaos, there’s no doubt that entitlement programs will be the main factor. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Disability are all fiscal train wrecks today, and the long-run outlook for these programs is frightful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)