News
Politico | New farm bill leans on food stamps
With new leadership promises of floor time, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas is back with a retooled farm bill that sets a goal of $38 billion in 10-year savings while tilting more to the right by demanding greater cuts from food stamps.
CNN Money | BofA, Wells Fargo sued for mortgage settlement violation
New York has announced plans to sue Bank of America and Wells Fargo over their alleged failure to comply with last year's National Mortgage Settlement.
FOX Business | Disappointing 1Q Revenues Signal Trouble Under the Surface
With earnings season entering its final leg, don’t be fooled by record-breaking earnings per share -- revenue has been a huge disappointment.
Market Watch | U.S. home prices climb 1.9% in March: CoreLogic
U.S. home prices climbed 1.9% in March, marking the 13th straight monthly rise and a 10.5% year-on-year gain, CoreLogic said Tuesday.
Politico | TPP talks key to opening Japan
Japan’s recent decision to seek inclusion in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations could be a game-changer for U.S. agriculture and good news for our country’s overall economy. We welcome the Obama’s administration announcement that it would support Japan’s inclusion, and we urge other countries to do the same.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Real Clear Markets | Lets Cut Benefits, Not Immigration
A misleading Heritage Foundation report by economists Robert Rector and Jason Richwine concludes that legalizing undocumented workers will cost America $6.3 trillion over the immigrants' lifetimes.
Forbes | Federal Student Loan Programs Subsidize Waste And Redistribution To The Wealthy
The student loan crisis has been all over the headlines lately—$1 trillion in loans with a default rate that’s high and getting higher. But direct grants, or scholarships, by the federal and state governments have just as big an effect on the world of higher education and on the nation. They, too, are in need of reform.
Bloomberg | Reinhart-Rogoff’s Lesson for Economists
What lesson can economists draw from the ruckus over a flaw found in an influential study by two Harvard University scholars? Our suggestion: Do a better job of checking one another’s work.
Washington Times | Red tape on the rise
After noting the need for a “proper balance” between making needed rules and allowing markets to work as freely as possible, he said: “Sometimes, those rules have gotten out of balance, placing unreasonable burdens on business — burdens that have stifled innovation and have had a chilling effect on growth and jobs.”
Market Watch | Flip houses to get rich, retire before next crash
Yes, flipping houses, your big new window of opportunity. Flipping commercials are increasing on drive-time radio.
NBER | Migration and Wage Effects of Taxing Top Earners: Evidence from the Foreigners' Tax Scheme in Denmark
This paper analyzes the effects of income taxation on the international migration and earnings of top earners using a Danish preferential foreigner tax scheme and population-wide Danish administrative data.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Debt Limit and Tax Reform: Both Important, But On Their Own
Press reports link the coming debt limit debate with the building effort for tax reform. The debt limit and tax reform are both important, but the connection ends there, as it should. Suggestions that some sort of fast-track procedure for tax reform might be the conservative “ask” in exchange for a debt limit increase are way off base.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Health Care
News
Politico | Will health care cost slowdown last?
A dramatic slowdown in the growth of health care spending in recent years could be here to stay, according to two studies published Monday by Health Affairs.
Politico | Study: Cuts to Medicare trim costs to insurers
When Medicare payment rates for hospital inpatient care are cut, do insurers end up paying more? A new study published Monday in Health Affairs finds they don’t — contradicting the well-known “cost shifting” theory.
CNBC | Slowdown in Health Costs’ Rise May Last as Economy Revives
One of the economic mysteries of the last few years has been the bigger-than-expected slowdown in health spending, a trend that promises to bolster wages and help close the wide federal deficit over the long term — but only if it persists.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | Health-Care Exchanges Will Need the Young Invincibles
In less than five months, on Oct. 1, the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges will go live online. Millions of Americans will suddenly be able to log on to a website and choose their own heath-care coverage from a menu of subsidized options for prices and coverage levels. As the opening day gets closer, anxiety is increasing over how well these online exchanges will function.
CATO | Why Expand Care with No Proven Benefits?
ObamaCare aims to cover 16 million poor uninsured adults through Medicaid, plus 16 million higher-income uninsured Americans through government-subsidized “private” insurance. Supporters portrayed these “reforms” as a matter of life and death, particularly for the poor.
Politico | Will health care cost slowdown last?
A dramatic slowdown in the growth of health care spending in recent years could be here to stay, according to two studies published Monday by Health Affairs.
Politico | Study: Cuts to Medicare trim costs to insurers
When Medicare payment rates for hospital inpatient care are cut, do insurers end up paying more? A new study published Monday in Health Affairs finds they don’t — contradicting the well-known “cost shifting” theory.
CNBC | Slowdown in Health Costs’ Rise May Last as Economy Revives
One of the economic mysteries of the last few years has been the bigger-than-expected slowdown in health spending, a trend that promises to bolster wages and help close the wide federal deficit over the long term — but only if it persists.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | Health-Care Exchanges Will Need the Young Invincibles
In less than five months, on Oct. 1, the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges will go live online. Millions of Americans will suddenly be able to log on to a website and choose their own heath-care coverage from a menu of subsidized options for prices and coverage levels. As the opening day gets closer, anxiety is increasing over how well these online exchanges will function.
CATO | Why Expand Care with No Proven Benefits?
ObamaCare aims to cover 16 million poor uninsured adults through Medicaid, plus 16 million higher-income uninsured Americans through government-subsidized “private” insurance. Supporters portrayed these “reforms” as a matter of life and death, particularly for the poor.
Monetary
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | When governments rob banks
Have you heard about a nation so in debt, it is seizing assets from the bank accounts of private citizens? On the other side of the world, a modern-day Greek tragedy is taking place now on the island of Cyprus that has implication here at home. This is especially timely as Americans grapple with a government that borrows 46 cents of every dollar it spends.
Washington Times | When governments rob banks
Have you heard about a nation so in debt, it is seizing assets from the bank accounts of private citizens? On the other side of the world, a modern-day Greek tragedy is taking place now on the island of Cyprus that has implication here at home. This is especially timely as Americans grapple with a government that borrows 46 cents of every dollar it spends.
Taxes
News
National Journal | What if the Internet Sales Tax Doesn't Make it Through Congress?
Legislation allowing states to collect sales taxes on purchases made over the Internet—approved by the Senate in a 69-27 vote Monday evening—faces an uncertain future in the House.
CNN Money | Online retailers call Internet sales tax a 'nightmare'
Online retailers would have to start collecting sales tax upfront. They'd also be forced to send payments to local governments across the country. The "Marketplace Fairness Act" passed the Senate but faces a higher hurdle in the House of Representatives before becoming law.
CNBC | Peeling Back the Online Sales Tax Layers
By a vote of 69 to 27, the Senate passed the Marketplace Fairness Act with bi-partisan support. The bill would allow a state that has a sales tax to require online retailers—those with more than a million dollars in out-of-state sales each year—to collect that sales tax from all of its customers in that state.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Mercatus | There's Nothing Fair About an Internet Sales Tax
Just a few years ago, retail giant Amazon primarily stood on the sidelines of the debate over federal legislation – dubbed the Main Street Fairness Act – to require online retailers to collect sales taxes. But now Amazon is front and center supporting the current iteration of the bill wending its way through Congress.
National Journal | What if the Internet Sales Tax Doesn't Make it Through Congress?
Legislation allowing states to collect sales taxes on purchases made over the Internet—approved by the Senate in a 69-27 vote Monday evening—faces an uncertain future in the House.
CNN Money | Online retailers call Internet sales tax a 'nightmare'
Online retailers would have to start collecting sales tax upfront. They'd also be forced to send payments to local governments across the country. The "Marketplace Fairness Act" passed the Senate but faces a higher hurdle in the House of Representatives before becoming law.
CNBC | Peeling Back the Online Sales Tax Layers
By a vote of 69 to 27, the Senate passed the Marketplace Fairness Act with bi-partisan support. The bill would allow a state that has a sales tax to require online retailers—those with more than a million dollars in out-of-state sales each year—to collect that sales tax from all of its customers in that state.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Mercatus | There's Nothing Fair About an Internet Sales Tax
Just a few years ago, retail giant Amazon primarily stood on the sidelines of the debate over federal legislation – dubbed the Main Street Fairness Act – to require online retailers to collect sales taxes. But now Amazon is front and center supporting the current iteration of the bill wending its way through Congress.
Employment
News
CNN Money | Unemployment haunts Social Security recipients
Losing your job is a nasty shock at any age, but for older Americans nearing retirement, there's an extra kick: A late stretch of unemployment will haunt them throughout their Golden Years in the form of lower Social Security payments.
Bloomberg | Job Openings in the U.S. Drop From Almost Five-Year High
Job openings in the U.S. eased in March from the highest level in almost five years, indicating employers are waiting to see how the economy performs as federal budget cuts take effect.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | Immigration-Cost Claim Splits GOP
A conservative think tank estimated Monday that granting citizenship to 11 million people in the U.S. illegally would cost taxpayers trillions of dollars, a conclusion that split the Republican Party and added a new level of complexity to efforts in the Senate to overhaul immigration laws.
CNN Money | Unemployment haunts Social Security recipients
Losing your job is a nasty shock at any age, but for older Americans nearing retirement, there's an extra kick: A late stretch of unemployment will haunt them throughout their Golden Years in the form of lower Social Security payments.
Bloomberg | Job Openings in the U.S. Drop From Almost Five-Year High
Job openings in the U.S. eased in March from the highest level in almost five years, indicating employers are waiting to see how the economy performs as federal budget cuts take effect.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | Immigration-Cost Claim Splits GOP
A conservative think tank estimated Monday that granting citizenship to 11 million people in the U.S. illegally would cost taxpayers trillions of dollars, a conclusion that split the Republican Party and added a new level of complexity to efforts in the Senate to overhaul immigration laws.
Budget
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | IMF Warns of More Debt Relief Ahead for Greece
The International Monetary Fund reopened the debate over whether European governments will need to take losses on their bailout loans to Greece, stating Monday that Greece's debt remains "much too high" and European commitments to lighten it are welcome.
Mercatus | Defense Spending and the Economy
While the potential impact of across-the-board federal defense spending cuts on national security may be up for debate, a new study published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University finds predictions of these cuts’ dire impact on the economy and jobs grossly overblown.
Blogs
Market Watch | Clinton worried DC will just spin its wheels on deficit
Former President Bill Clinton said Tuesday that he is concerned that Washington is just going to “keep spinning our wheels” about the federal budget deficit and urged the two parties to focus on tax reform instead.
CBO | A Tour of the Federal Budget
About ten days ago I gave a lecture about the federal budget to the introductory economics course at Harvard University. I titled the talk “A Tour of the Federal Budget and Possible Changes in Budget Policy” and tried to cover budget developments over the past several decades, the future path of the budget under current law, and some broad proposals for changes in spending and tax policies.
WSJ | IMF Warns of More Debt Relief Ahead for Greece
The International Monetary Fund reopened the debate over whether European governments will need to take losses on their bailout loans to Greece, stating Monday that Greece's debt remains "much too high" and European commitments to lighten it are welcome.
Mercatus | Defense Spending and the Economy
While the potential impact of across-the-board federal defense spending cuts on national security may be up for debate, a new study published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University finds predictions of these cuts’ dire impact on the economy and jobs grossly overblown.
Blogs
Market Watch | Clinton worried DC will just spin its wheels on deficit
Former President Bill Clinton said Tuesday that he is concerned that Washington is just going to “keep spinning our wheels” about the federal budget deficit and urged the two parties to focus on tax reform instead.
CBO | A Tour of the Federal Budget
About ten days ago I gave a lecture about the federal budget to the introductory economics course at Harvard University. I titled the talk “A Tour of the Federal Budget and Possible Changes in Budget Policy” and tried to cover budget developments over the past several decades, the future path of the budget under current law, and some broad proposals for changes in spending and tax policies.
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