News
CNN Money | Federal housing offices to close in worst foreclosure areas
The federal housing department, which handles such things as emergency placements for the evicted and the newly homeless, is slated to shutter its office in the area within the next four months.
National Journal | Is a Sequester Tipping Point Coming?
When $85 billion in broad spending cuts went into effect in March the world didn't end. Kids weren't kicked out of school en masse, hundreds of thousands weren't laid off, the economy didn't tank. Sequestration was overhyped and the deluge never came. But it may begin to pour this summer.
FOX Business | May Housing Starts, Permits Miss Expectations
U.S. housing starts rose less than expected in May, likely reflecting labor and material constraints, but the overall trend remained consistent with strength in the housing market.
Bloomberg | Abenomics Mobilizes Japan Homebuyers to Action: Mortgages
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s pledge to end 15 years of deflation has prompted the nation’s biggest banks to raise mortgage rates, mobilizing people like Karin Abe to buy a home four years earlier than he had planned.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Politico | Big government’s negative impact
Benghazi neglected, IRS targeting, DOJ press investigations, Job Corps overspending, secret White House emails, phone taps, etc. The number of mounting scandals in Washington is leaving America churning in uncertainty.
Bloomberg | G-8 Leaders See Worst Over for World Economy After Summit
Leaders of the Group of Eight nations said the worst has passed for the global economy following summit talks on promoting employment and growth.
Forbes | The American Oil & Gas Industry Is Rescuing The Obama Economy
In Comeback: America’s New Economic Boom, author Charles Morris refers to “the new X-factor, the American energy advantage.” The “game changer”—shale oil and gas technology and production—has put the United States and Canada in the world’s leading economic saddle.
Blogs
Calculated Risk | Fed: Household Debt Service Ratio near lowest level in 30+ years
The Federal Reserve released the Q1 2013 Household Debt Service and Financial Obligations Ratios yesterday. I used to track this quarterly back in 2005 and 2006 to point out that households were taking on excessive financial obligations.
Heritage Foundation | Natural Gas Exports: Remove Government Barriers
Currently, the U.S. can freely export LNG to another country only if it has a free trade agreement with that country. Requests to export to the rest of the world must be approved by the Department of Energy (DOE) on a case-by-case basis. This results in costly delays.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Health Care
News
CNN Money | Health care costs to slow in 2014
Total costs for health care services, including everything from doctor visits and prescription drugs to surgeries, are expected to rise 6.5% in 2014, when the Affordable Care Act fully kicks in, according to a report released Tuesday.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Q: Will Obamacare Encourage Fraud? A: “I’ll Have to Think About That…”
As we learn more each day about what Obamacare will bring, a video that recently became available reveals another frightening turn. The federal government already struggles with fraud in many major programs such as Medicare and Social Security. What about the forthcoming Obamacare insurance exchanges?
CNN Money | Health care costs to slow in 2014
Total costs for health care services, including everything from doctor visits and prescription drugs to surgeries, are expected to rise 6.5% in 2014, when the Affordable Care Act fully kicks in, according to a report released Tuesday.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Q: Will Obamacare Encourage Fraud? A: “I’ll Have to Think About That…”
As we learn more each day about what Obamacare will bring, a video that recently became available reveals another frightening turn. The federal government already struggles with fraud in many major programs such as Medicare and Social Security. What about the forthcoming Obamacare insurance exchanges?
Monetary
News
CNN Money | Obama: Bernanke has 'stayed a lot longer' than expected
President Obama hinted Monday that he will not reappoint Ben Bernanke to a third term as Federal Reserve chairman.
Bloomberg | Consumer Prices in U.S. Increased Less Than Forecast in May
The cost of living in the U.S. rose less than forecast in May, restrained by the first drop in food prices in almost four years and signaling inflation remains under control.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Post | Crossed signals over Fed’s stimulus efforts
The Federal Reserve’s new communication strategy was supposed to make it easier to decipher the intentions of the famously secretive institution.
WSJ | The SEC Gets Money-Fund Reform Half Right
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently proposed two new rules to help prevent sudden redemptions of money-market shares by investors from wreaking havoc on the financial system. The first proposal, requiring a "floating NAV" (net asset value), deserves support because it is limited to the most risky type of money-market funds: those held mainly by fast-moving institutions and invested largely in prime commercial paper.
The Telegraph | Quantitative easing may be most powerful when it ends
There could be all kinds of ways quantitative easing (QE) has an effect on the wider economy. But one of the most important may be most effective precisely at the moment everyone becomes confident QE is ending.
Blogs
WSJ | Watch What Fed Says, Not What It Does
On the action front, economists expect very little. The central bank’s rate setting Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to press forward with its $85 billion per month in Treasury and mortgage bond buying, as it seeks to provide stimulus to the economy. Most forecasters still think it will be a few more months, at minimum, before Fed officials have enough confidence in the economy to change the scope of that program.
Economist | The ECB is not breaching the law
Life is full of ironies. In the great financial crisis, all the major central banks of the western world had to intervene heavily in markets to prevent an even bigger calamity. But the one central bank which allowed the crisis to temporarily spiral out of control by doing far too little for far too long now finds itself in court—for allegedly doing too much.
CNN Money | Obama: Bernanke has 'stayed a lot longer' than expected
President Obama hinted Monday that he will not reappoint Ben Bernanke to a third term as Federal Reserve chairman.
Bloomberg | Consumer Prices in U.S. Increased Less Than Forecast in May
The cost of living in the U.S. rose less than forecast in May, restrained by the first drop in food prices in almost four years and signaling inflation remains under control.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Post | Crossed signals over Fed’s stimulus efforts
The Federal Reserve’s new communication strategy was supposed to make it easier to decipher the intentions of the famously secretive institution.
WSJ | The SEC Gets Money-Fund Reform Half Right
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently proposed two new rules to help prevent sudden redemptions of money-market shares by investors from wreaking havoc on the financial system. The first proposal, requiring a "floating NAV" (net asset value), deserves support because it is limited to the most risky type of money-market funds: those held mainly by fast-moving institutions and invested largely in prime commercial paper.
The Telegraph | Quantitative easing may be most powerful when it ends
There could be all kinds of ways quantitative easing (QE) has an effect on the wider economy. But one of the most important may be most effective precisely at the moment everyone becomes confident QE is ending.
Blogs
WSJ | Watch What Fed Says, Not What It Does
On the action front, economists expect very little. The central bank’s rate setting Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to press forward with its $85 billion per month in Treasury and mortgage bond buying, as it seeks to provide stimulus to the economy. Most forecasters still think it will be a few more months, at minimum, before Fed officials have enough confidence in the economy to change the scope of that program.
Economist | The ECB is not breaching the law
Life is full of ironies. In the great financial crisis, all the major central banks of the western world had to intervene heavily in markets to prevent an even bigger calamity. But the one central bank which allowed the crisis to temporarily spiral out of control by doing far too little for far too long now finds itself in court—for allegedly doing too much.
Taxes
News
CNN Money | Perils of moving to a no-tax state
You might think that moving to a state with no income tax would greatly simplify your tax life. Not so fast.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | California's Cap-and-Tax Grab
Democrats in Sacramento are taking a victory lap for balancing this year's budget without raising taxes (not counting the $6 billion retroactive hike voters approved at political gunpoint in November). The dirty little secret is they're instead tapping California's new cap-and-trade program.
Washington Times | Tyranny of the taxers
There is an all-too-common tendency for humans (particularly members of the political class) to blame or scapegoat others when they bungle their jobs. We are now being treated to the meeting of the Group of Eight — where the “leaders” of eight major countries are looking for excuses for why they have made such a mess of their own economies. Rather than acknowledge that the reason for such poor performance is excessive government spending, taxation and regulation, members of the G-8 are blaming their ills on lower-tax jurisdictions, which they pejoratively label “tax havens.”
CNN Money | Perils of moving to a no-tax state
You might think that moving to a state with no income tax would greatly simplify your tax life. Not so fast.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | California's Cap-and-Tax Grab
Democrats in Sacramento are taking a victory lap for balancing this year's budget without raising taxes (not counting the $6 billion retroactive hike voters approved at political gunpoint in November). The dirty little secret is they're instead tapping California's new cap-and-trade program.
Washington Times | Tyranny of the taxers
There is an all-too-common tendency for humans (particularly members of the political class) to blame or scapegoat others when they bungle their jobs. We are now being treated to the meeting of the Group of Eight — where the “leaders” of eight major countries are looking for excuses for why they have made such a mess of their own economies. Rather than acknowledge that the reason for such poor performance is excessive government spending, taxation and regulation, members of the G-8 are blaming their ills on lower-tax jurisdictions, which they pejoratively label “tax havens.”
Employment
News
CNBC | America Falls Behind in Creating Rich Entrepreneurs
The creation myth of American wealth is almost always rooted in the entrepreneur.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Mercatus | Better Solutions for More Jobs in Our Jobless Recovery
Fueled by the surge in government spending, total government employment hit a record high of 22.6 million in 2009—the same year the private sector lost five million jobs. Today, government accounts for 16.1% of total employment, the same as in 2007, before the start of the recession.
CNBC | America Falls Behind in Creating Rich Entrepreneurs
The creation myth of American wealth is almost always rooted in the entrepreneur.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Mercatus | Better Solutions for More Jobs in Our Jobless Recovery
Fueled by the surge in government spending, total government employment hit a record high of 22.6 million in 2009—the same year the private sector lost five million jobs. Today, government accounts for 16.1% of total employment, the same as in 2007, before the start of the recession.
Budget
News
WSJ | Jefferson County Debt Plan Is Costly
The county's plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection hinges in part on the sale of $1.9 billion of new debt this fall to refinance debt tied to its troubled sewer system. But some observers call terms of the new debt onerous.
Blogs
WSJ | Credit-Card Delinquencies Declined in May
Late credit-card payments declined for major lenders in May, continuing a steady performance that has been bolstered by recent signs that the U.S. economic recovery is gradually gaining traction.
WSJ | Jefferson County Debt Plan Is Costly
The county's plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection hinges in part on the sale of $1.9 billion of new debt this fall to refinance debt tied to its troubled sewer system. But some observers call terms of the new debt onerous.
Blogs
WSJ | Credit-Card Delinquencies Declined in May
Late credit-card payments declined for major lenders in May, continuing a steady performance that has been bolstered by recent signs that the U.S. economic recovery is gradually gaining traction.
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