News
Politico | Alaska pushes D.C. on ANWR drilling
Alaskan officials are hoping to prod the federal government into measuring the amount of oil and gas beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and are offering state money as part of their plan to push the project forward.
CNN Money | Death cross brewing in bond market
Investors have been dumping bonds lately, but a little-known technical indicator suggests that may not last for long.
Market Watch | Large depositors not protected in new EU draft law
European Union lawmakers on Monday voted in favor of a draft law that would protect small bank depositors from losses in further bank rescues, but could see customers with more than 100,000 euros in savings being hurt.
WSJ | Wall Street's Giants Try 'Flow Monster' Formula
Here is a glimpse at the future of finance. When Deutsche Bank AG set out to win a role on Apple Inc.'s $17 billion bond, it eschewed Wall Street's traditional tactics.
CNBC | The Market Is Not the Economy: What the Fed Misses
Whatever course it chooses, the Federal Reserve will have to grapple with the reality that while its policies have helped levitate stocks, they've been considerably less effective at expanding the economy.
WSJ | Developed Economies See Slight Growth
Developed economies returned to growth in the first three months of the year, although the euro zone continued to lag behind the U.S. and Japan, according to figures released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Tuesday.
CNBC | Economy Is on the Move Again—and So Are Americans
Thanks to the slowly brightening employment picture, along with the uptick in the housing market, more and more people are packing up and relocating. And the pace is likely to pick up this summer, the peak season for moving, according to industry professionals.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Politico | Barriers hamper small businesses
Although we’ve seen signs of a slowly improving economy, we must remember that our nation’s potential is far better than this. Despite the improved unemployment rate, there is a combination of data points that is cause for concern.
WSJ | Natural Gas Exports, Maybe
President Obama can't seem to decide whether America's unconventional oil and gas revolution is good for the country, which is resulting in passive-aggressive government. Witness last week's approval of a new natural gas export terminal that may not be a real approval.
Blogs
Calculated Risk | Zillow: House Prices up over 5% year-over-year in March, Case-Shiller expected to show 9.8% YoY increase
A majority (55 percent) of the 365 metros covered saw home values climb in April from March. Of the 30 largest metro areas covered, Sacramento experienced the largest monthly increase, with home values rising 3.4 percent.
Calculated Risk | Discussion on Inequality and Economic Growth
As we endure the slow, uneven recovery from the “Great Recession,” there is no more critical or timely question than that of the relationship between economic growth and inequality.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Health Care
News
WSJ | Gene Patents Drive Medical Innovation
The biotech industry began in 1978 when the University of California applied for a patent on the gene for the human growth hormone. Since that filing nearly 20% of the 20,000-plus genes in our DNA have been patented.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Heritage Foundation | Real Medicare Reform: Why Seniors Will Fare Better
Medicare reform based on a defined-contribution system of financing—commonly referred to as a “premium support” system—could slow or even reverse the growth in seniors’ annual premium costs.
WSJ | Gene Patents Drive Medical Innovation
The biotech industry began in 1978 when the University of California applied for a patent on the gene for the human growth hormone. Since that filing nearly 20% of the 20,000-plus genes in our DNA have been patented.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Heritage Foundation | Real Medicare Reform: Why Seniors Will Fare Better
Medicare reform based on a defined-contribution system of financing—commonly referred to as a “premium support” system—could slow or even reverse the growth in seniors’ annual premium costs.
Monetary
News
Market Watch | Fed's Evans: Need more time to assess job gains
There has been "good progress" in the labor market, but questions remain over whether the gains are sustainable, said Charles Evans, the president of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, Monday.
WSJ | IMF Tells Central Europe to Spend More
The International Monetary Fund is recommending short-term stimulus for much of Central Europe, where economies are going through their roughest patch in years and the recession in the euro zone has dampened hopes for a quick recovery.
Blogs
Economist | The ECB can't substitute for periphery financial reform
While relieving the immediate pain makes the recovery process more tolerable, deterioration in the underlying fundamentals may be obscured, thereby hindering the achievement of a true diagnosis. In considering how to contribute to solving the euro area’s credit problems, the ECB faces a dilemma of this type.
Market Watch | Fed's Evans: Need more time to assess job gains
There has been "good progress" in the labor market, but questions remain over whether the gains are sustainable, said Charles Evans, the president of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, Monday.
WSJ | IMF Tells Central Europe to Spend More
The International Monetary Fund is recommending short-term stimulus for much of Central Europe, where economies are going through their roughest patch in years and the recession in the euro zone has dampened hopes for a quick recovery.
Blogs
Economist | The ECB can't substitute for periphery financial reform
While relieving the immediate pain makes the recovery process more tolerable, deterioration in the underlying fundamentals may be obscured, thereby hindering the achievement of a true diagnosis. In considering how to contribute to solving the euro area’s credit problems, the ECB faces a dilemma of this type.
Taxes
News
Reuters | Taxes on some wealthy French top 100 pct of income: paper
More than 8,000 French households' tax bills topped 100 percent of their income last year, the business newspaper Les Echos reported on Saturday, citing Finance Ministry data.
WSJ | Apple Avoided Taxes on Overseas Billions, Senate Panel Finds
Apple Inc. paid no corporate income tax to any national government on tens of billions of dollars in overseas income over the past four years, Senate investigators found, a revelation that fuels the debate over whether the U.S. tax code needs an overhaul.
Washington Times | Study: GOP generational divide could sink Web sales tax bill
Critics of Internet sales tax say that rising resistance from newer GOP lawmakers could sink a bill now before the Republican-controlled House to require online retailers such as eBay to start collecting sales taxes for the states.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Politico | End the political circus on tax reform
On Tuesday morning, a political sideshow masquerading as a Senate hearing will target America’s economic champions — companies that are creating American jobs and strengthening American innovation.
Washington Times | Why the IRS cannot be reformed
Every few years, at least from the time of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, there is a scandal involving abuse of power at the Internal Revenue Service. We are again in the midst of one of these periodic abuse scandals, with many solemn promises that the problems will be corrected and will not happen again.
Mercatus | The Hidden Costs of Tax Compliance
The tax code, far beyond simply collecting revenue to fund the operations of the federal government, attempts to perform policy and political functions as well. This paper does not examine the normative value of these provisions, but instead examines the hidden costs of today’s tax code: time and money spent submitting tax forms, foregone economic growth, lobbying expenditures, and gaps in revenue collection.
Reuters | Taxes on some wealthy French top 100 pct of income: paper
More than 8,000 French households' tax bills topped 100 percent of their income last year, the business newspaper Les Echos reported on Saturday, citing Finance Ministry data.
WSJ | Apple Avoided Taxes on Overseas Billions, Senate Panel Finds
Apple Inc. paid no corporate income tax to any national government on tens of billions of dollars in overseas income over the past four years, Senate investigators found, a revelation that fuels the debate over whether the U.S. tax code needs an overhaul.
Washington Times | Study: GOP generational divide could sink Web sales tax bill
Critics of Internet sales tax say that rising resistance from newer GOP lawmakers could sink a bill now before the Republican-controlled House to require online retailers such as eBay to start collecting sales taxes for the states.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Politico | End the political circus on tax reform
On Tuesday morning, a political sideshow masquerading as a Senate hearing will target America’s economic champions — companies that are creating American jobs and strengthening American innovation.
Washington Times | Why the IRS cannot be reformed
Every few years, at least from the time of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, there is a scandal involving abuse of power at the Internal Revenue Service. We are again in the midst of one of these periodic abuse scandals, with many solemn promises that the problems will be corrected and will not happen again.
Mercatus | The Hidden Costs of Tax Compliance
The tax code, far beyond simply collecting revenue to fund the operations of the federal government, attempts to perform policy and political functions as well. This paper does not examine the normative value of these provisions, but instead examines the hidden costs of today’s tax code: time and money spent submitting tax forms, foregone economic growth, lobbying expenditures, and gaps in revenue collection.
Employment
News
CNN Money | Make $30 an hour, no bachelor's degree required
No college degree? No problem. Become a web developer. The job is growing quickly, offers a median salary around $30 an hour, or $62,500 a year, and does not necessarily require a bachelor's degree.
Washington Post | As rich gain optimism, lawmakers lose economic urgency
Washington has all but abandoned efforts to help the economy recover faster — and lawmakers don’t seem worried that voters will punish them for it.
Econ Comments & Analysis
NBER | Post-recession US Employment through the Lens of a Non-linear Okun's law
This paper aims at investigating the relationship between employment and GDP in the United States. We disentangle trend and cyclical employment components by estimating a non-linear Okun’s law based on a smooth transition error-correction model that simultaneously accounts for long-term relationships between growth and employment and short-run instability over the business cycle.
Blogs
WSJ | What’s Holding Back Hiring?
Nearly four years after the recession officially ended, the unemployment rate remains elevated, at 7.5%. The share of the population that’s working or looking for work is at a 30-year low. More than 2.5 million fewer Americans are working today than when the recession began.
CNN Money | Make $30 an hour, no bachelor's degree required
No college degree? No problem. Become a web developer. The job is growing quickly, offers a median salary around $30 an hour, or $62,500 a year, and does not necessarily require a bachelor's degree.
Washington Post | As rich gain optimism, lawmakers lose economic urgency
Washington has all but abandoned efforts to help the economy recover faster — and lawmakers don’t seem worried that voters will punish them for it.
Econ Comments & Analysis
NBER | Post-recession US Employment through the Lens of a Non-linear Okun's law
This paper aims at investigating the relationship between employment and GDP in the United States. We disentangle trend and cyclical employment components by estimating a non-linear Okun’s law based on a smooth transition error-correction model that simultaneously accounts for long-term relationships between growth and employment and short-run instability over the business cycle.
Blogs
WSJ | What’s Holding Back Hiring?
Nearly four years after the recession officially ended, the unemployment rate remains elevated, at 7.5%. The share of the population that’s working or looking for work is at a 30-year low. More than 2.5 million fewer Americans are working today than when the recession began.
Budget
News
Bloomberg | U.S. Treasury Takes Extra Steps to Stay Under Federal Debt Limit
The Treasury Department announced further steps to keep funding the government without going over the nation’s debt limit, amid a stalemate between Congress and the Obama administration on approving an increase in the ceiling.
National Journal | S&P Warns Congress of Risks of Political Brinkmanship on Debt
The debt-ceiling deal expired this weekend, but the credit-rating agency that sent shock waves through financial markets when it downgraded the U.S. credit rating in 2011 is again warning Congress that a credible five-year plan to stabilize the federal deficit is as necessary—and elusive—as ever.
Econ Comments & Analysis
National Journal | How Much Does Debt-Limit Brinksmanship Cost? Last Time, More Than $1B
Whenever the federal government reaches its debt limit, as it did on Sunday, it marks the beginning of a period of uncertainty. In the case of such a fiscal emergency, the Treasury Department breaks the glass and pulls out emergency tools to buy some extra time before the government defaults on its debts.
Bloomberg | U.S. Treasury Takes Extra Steps to Stay Under Federal Debt Limit
The Treasury Department announced further steps to keep funding the government without going over the nation’s debt limit, amid a stalemate between Congress and the Obama administration on approving an increase in the ceiling.
National Journal | S&P Warns Congress of Risks of Political Brinkmanship on Debt
The debt-ceiling deal expired this weekend, but the credit-rating agency that sent shock waves through financial markets when it downgraded the U.S. credit rating in 2011 is again warning Congress that a credible five-year plan to stabilize the federal deficit is as necessary—and elusive—as ever.
Econ Comments & Analysis
National Journal | How Much Does Debt-Limit Brinksmanship Cost? Last Time, More Than $1B
Whenever the federal government reaches its debt limit, as it did on Sunday, it marks the beginning of a period of uncertainty. In the case of such a fiscal emergency, the Treasury Department breaks the glass and pulls out emergency tools to buy some extra time before the government defaults on its debts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)