News
Politico | Keystone Pipeline fans, foes make their cases
With a decision on the Keystone XL oil pipeline looming, supporters and opponents are putting everything on the table, fighting tooth and nail for the public’s — and the president’s — attention.
Market Watch | Europe faces threat of full-fledged depression
“Depression” isn’t the word usually used to describe the euro-zone economy, but it may become increasingly appropriate as hopes for a recovery give way to fears of an extended and destructive downturn that policy makers seem unable to halt.
Washington Times | Gold rush over? Investors rush to dump precious metal as prices drop to 2-year lows
Investors are rushing to dump gold funds as prices for the precious metal dropped to two-year lows and central bank reserves lost $560 billion in value, various media reported.
CNBC | Zandi Sees Benefits From 'Targeted' Mortgage Reduction
Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Analytics, who's reportedly the front-runner to become the White House's next housing czar, said there were benefits to mortgage writedowns for underwater homeowners but admitted there were also risks from such a move.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Bloomberg | U.S. Amasses Data on 10 Million Consumers as Banks Object
The new U.S. consumer finance watchdog is gearing up to monitor how millions of Americans use credit cards, take out mortgages and overdraw their checking accounts. Their bankers aren’t happy about it.
Washington Times | Strength in numbers
The immigration reform debate has begun. With the release of a framework for Senate legislation, voices are being heard on national security (especially on the southern border), legal issues (protection for employers who attempt to follow hiring laws), the future of the undocumented in the United States, and sector concerns (high-tech and agriculture).
AEI | How fast can the economy grow?
Discussions about the economy tend to focus much more on the Fed’s latest program to stimulate spending and the drama on Capitol Hill than on the potential for the economy to generate higher income over the long haul.
Blogs
Market Watch | The spreadsheet error in Reinhart and Rogoff’s famous paper on debt sustainability
It’s a factoid trotted out almost any time a serious debate breaks out about the sustainability of debt. Once a country gets past 90% on the public debt-to-GDP ratio, the economy will suffer. (The U.S. ratio was 73% at the end of 2012.)
WSJ | Reinhart-Rogoff Response to Critique
We literally just received this draft comment, and will review it in due course. On a cursory look, it seems that that Herndon Ash and Pollen also find lower growth when debt is over 90% (they find 0-30 debt/GDP , 4.2% growth; 30-60, 3.1 %; 60-90, 3.2%,; 90-120, 2.4% and over 120, 1.6%).
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Health Care
Econ Comments & Analysis
Fortune | Hospital finances are broken. How to fix them.
American health care is screwed up. It is a bizarre market where the prices that patients pay do not match the quality of care.
Politico | Medicare drug rebates needed
The bill, known as the Medicare Drug Savings Act of 2013, would ensure taxpayers get a better deal by requiring drug manufacturers to once again provide rebates for prescription drugs for people who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid and for lower-income Medicare beneficiaries.
Fortune | Hospital finances are broken. How to fix them.
American health care is screwed up. It is a bizarre market where the prices that patients pay do not match the quality of care.
Politico | Medicare drug rebates needed
The bill, known as the Medicare Drug Savings Act of 2013, would ensure taxpayers get a better deal by requiring drug manufacturers to once again provide rebates for prescription drugs for people who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid and for lower-income Medicare beneficiaries.
Monetary
News
FOX Business | Central Banks' Monetary Policies Under the Spotlight
Global policymakers will discuss the impact of unprecedented monetary policy easing at meetings in Washington this week along with the softly-softly approach central banks will need to eventually wean the world off super-cheap funds.
Bloomberg | Central Banks Find Stimulus Glitter in Gold Slump
The slump in gold may hand activist central bankers more reasons to pursue the easy monetary policy that helped drive up the metal’s price in the first place.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Market Watch | Fed should not emphasize labor market: Bullard
The Federal Reserve should not "put more weight" on unemployment over price stability in its decision-making process, said James Bullard, the president of the St. Louis Fed, on Wednesday.
WSJ | Low Inflation Gives Fed Room
The latest reading on consumer prices could give the Federal Reserve a new reason to keep its easy-money policies intact—inflation shows signs of slowing.
Blogs
WSJ | To Track Inflation, Look at the Middle
What’s the best way to measure inflation? Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland say the answer is simple: Look at the middle.
FOX Business | Central Banks' Monetary Policies Under the Spotlight
Global policymakers will discuss the impact of unprecedented monetary policy easing at meetings in Washington this week along with the softly-softly approach central banks will need to eventually wean the world off super-cheap funds.
Bloomberg | Central Banks Find Stimulus Glitter in Gold Slump
The slump in gold may hand activist central bankers more reasons to pursue the easy monetary policy that helped drive up the metal’s price in the first place.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Market Watch | Fed should not emphasize labor market: Bullard
The Federal Reserve should not "put more weight" on unemployment over price stability in its decision-making process, said James Bullard, the president of the St. Louis Fed, on Wednesday.
WSJ | Low Inflation Gives Fed Room
The latest reading on consumer prices could give the Federal Reserve a new reason to keep its easy-money policies intact—inflation shows signs of slowing.
Blogs
WSJ | To Track Inflation, Look at the Middle
What’s the best way to measure inflation? Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland say the answer is simple: Look at the middle.
Taxes
Econ Comments & Analysis
Politico | Obama aligns with GOP on tax extenders
It’s a year-end tradition that’s as deeply ingrained as the lighting of the National Christmas Tree: a last-minute, feverish lobbying campaign to keep billions of dollars in temporary tax breaks on the books.
LA Times | Soaking California taxpayers, again
Now that they have filed their income tax returns and written their checks, many Californians are starting to realize that government greed is no laughing matter.
Washington Times | The 1-percenter who doesn’t pay his ‘fair share’ - President Obama
Resolved: No American citizen shall be required to pay federal income taxes at a rate higher than the country’s millionaire president pays.
NBER | The Welfare Impact of Indirect Pigouvian Taxation: Evidence from Transportation
A basic tenet of economics posits that when consumers or firms don't face the true social cost of their actions, market outcomes are inefficient. In the case of negative externalities, Pigouvian taxes are one way to correct this market failure, where the optimal tax leads agents to internalize the true cost of their actions.
CATO | Thursday Is Tax Freedom Day
Most of us think of April 15 as “tax day,” but, of course, that doesn’t end our tax agony. Tax Freedom Day comes three days later, when the average American has stopped working to pay his taxes and starts working for himself and his family.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Why We Pay the Income Tax
As millions of Americans scrambled this week to get their taxes filed on time, they probably didn’t spend much time wondering how we got here. But the modern income tax, with the federal government drawing most of its money from payments by citizens, is relatively new.
Politico | Obama aligns with GOP on tax extenders
It’s a year-end tradition that’s as deeply ingrained as the lighting of the National Christmas Tree: a last-minute, feverish lobbying campaign to keep billions of dollars in temporary tax breaks on the books.
LA Times | Soaking California taxpayers, again
Now that they have filed their income tax returns and written their checks, many Californians are starting to realize that government greed is no laughing matter.
Washington Times | The 1-percenter who doesn’t pay his ‘fair share’ - President Obama
Resolved: No American citizen shall be required to pay federal income taxes at a rate higher than the country’s millionaire president pays.
NBER | The Welfare Impact of Indirect Pigouvian Taxation: Evidence from Transportation
A basic tenet of economics posits that when consumers or firms don't face the true social cost of their actions, market outcomes are inefficient. In the case of negative externalities, Pigouvian taxes are one way to correct this market failure, where the optimal tax leads agents to internalize the true cost of their actions.
CATO | Thursday Is Tax Freedom Day
Most of us think of April 15 as “tax day,” but, of course, that doesn’t end our tax agony. Tax Freedom Day comes three days later, when the average American has stopped working to pay his taxes and starts working for himself and his family.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Why We Pay the Income Tax
As millions of Americans scrambled this week to get their taxes filed on time, they probably didn’t spend much time wondering how we got here. But the modern income tax, with the federal government drawing most of its money from payments by citizens, is relatively new.
Employment
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Read the Bill: Senate Gang of Eight Releases Immigration Legislation
Early this morning a group of eight U.S. senators filed comprehensive immigration reform legislation that totals 844 pages and addresses a range of policy issues. Heritage scholars are already at work reviewing the details of the bill.
Heritage Foundation | Read the Bill: Senate Gang of Eight Releases Immigration Legislation
Early this morning a group of eight U.S. senators filed comprehensive immigration reform legislation that totals 844 pages and addresses a range of policy issues. Heritage scholars are already at work reviewing the details of the bill.
Budget
News
Bloomberg | IMF Sees 20% of Corporate Debt Unsustainable in Parts of Europe
As much as 20 percent of non-bank corporate debt in the weakest euro-area economies is unsustainable and may force companies to cut dividends and sell assets, dealing further blows to investor confidence, the International Monetary Fund said.
Bloomberg | IMF Sees 20% of Corporate Debt Unsustainable in Parts of Europe
As much as 20 percent of non-bank corporate debt in the weakest euro-area economies is unsustainable and may force companies to cut dividends and sell assets, dealing further blows to investor confidence, the International Monetary Fund said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)