News
Bloomberg | Lacker Says Markets to Stay Volatile as Fed Debates Tapering
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker, who dissented against additional stimulus at every Fed meeting last year, said financial markets will remain volatile as policy makers debate how and when to curtail the central bank’s asset purchases.
FOX Business | Consumer Sentiment Improves in Late June
U.S. consumer sentiment improved in late June, ending the month close to a near six-year high set in May, as optimism among higher-income families rose to its strongest level in six years, a survey released on Friday showed.
Bloomberg | German Retail Sales Rise Amid Signs of Recovery: Economy
German retail sales rose more than economists forecast in May, adding to signs that a recovery in Europe’s largest economy has gathered pace amid record-low interest rates, while inflation accelerated.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | The human toll of the Obama economy
Forget everything you’ve been told by President Obama about the economy getting “stronger,” or what you’ve heard on the nightly news about the “solid” recovery.
Real Clear Markets | Shadow Inventory Could Force a Housing-Market Collapse
For more than 3 years, I have provided compelling evidence that all the talk about a housing recovery is nonsensical. I have shown that the Case-Shiller Index is built on questionable assumptions and gives much greater weight to certain kinds of home sales, which distorts the raw data beyond recognition.
Washington Times | The U.S. is coasting on the fumes of past greatness, following the Roman road to ruins
By A.D. 200, the Roman republic was a distant memory. Few citizens of the global Roman Empire even knew of their illustrious ancestors such as Scipio or Cicero. Millions no longer spoke Latin. Italian emperors were rare. There were no national elections.
Fortune | Prepare for a slowdown in housing prices
For many months now, U.S. home prices have risen to new highs as the housing market recovers from one of the worst crashes in recent history. The rebound comes as more Americans find jobs and as homebuyers work their way through the remaining housing inventory following years of lackluster construction.
WSJ | Monthly Economic Data Aren't Reliable
Today, nearly every useful U.S. economic indicator—from GDP growth to employment to housing data—is incorrect when it is initially released. Better data do become available, and revised estimates are made public as time passes. But economic policy and business decisions are made with initial data that are plainly inaccurate—and this can lead to mistakes, including hasty changes in direction.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Health Care
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | American Public Still Doesn’t Like Obamacare
Despite declarations made by advocates that Obamacare is the “law of the land,” a new Gallup poll shows that a majority of Americans still disapprove of it, with 52 percent of adults generally disapproving.
Heritage Foundation | American Public Still Doesn’t Like Obamacare
Despite declarations made by advocates that Obamacare is the “law of the land,” a new Gallup poll shows that a majority of Americans still disapprove of it, with 52 percent of adults generally disapproving.
Monetary
News
FOX Business | As Growth Slows, Fed Between a Rock and Hard Place
GDP growth was revised downward for the first quarter from 2.4% to 1.8% because consumer spending, business investment and exports grew less than previously estimated.
CNN Money | Fed officials in damage control mode
Federal Reserve officials are still in damage control mode , after comments about winding down stimulus frazzled markets last week.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Forbes | For Suggesting An End To QE, The Bernanke Fed Is Likely Stuck With QE
Usually, when a government starts financing itself with the printing press, it finds it mightily difficult to stop, even if there is some will to do so.
Blogs
WSJ | Low Inflation Highlights Fed Dilemma
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and other central bank officials maintain it’ll pick up. But a substantial band of economists outside the Fed is starting to challenge Mr. Bernanke’s diagnosis.
FOX Business | As Growth Slows, Fed Between a Rock and Hard Place
GDP growth was revised downward for the first quarter from 2.4% to 1.8% because consumer spending, business investment and exports grew less than previously estimated.
CNN Money | Fed officials in damage control mode
Federal Reserve officials are still in damage control mode , after comments about winding down stimulus frazzled markets last week.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Forbes | For Suggesting An End To QE, The Bernanke Fed Is Likely Stuck With QE
Usually, when a government starts financing itself with the printing press, it finds it mightily difficult to stop, even if there is some will to do so.
Blogs
WSJ | Low Inflation Highlights Fed Dilemma
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and other central bank officials maintain it’ll pick up. But a substantial band of economists outside the Fed is starting to challenge Mr. Bernanke’s diagnosis.
Taxes
News
Politico | Tax lobbyists spring into action
The proposal by Senate Finance Committee leaders to move on a foundation for tax reform with a “blank slate” — leaving thousands of provisions on the chopping block — will spark a furious lobbying spree that’s bound to exhaust both K Street and Capitol Hill.
CNN Money | The business traveler tax threat
Ever travel to New York for work, even for a day? How about to any other state? Whenever you do, you're entering into another universe that may require you to pay tax on the income you earn while you're there.
Econ Comments & Analysis
CRS | Tax Provisions Expiring in 2013 ("Tax Extenders")
Dozens of temporary tax provisions are scheduled to expire at the end of 2013 under current law. Most of the provisions set to expire in 2013 have been part of past temporary tax extension legislation.
AEI | Rethinking tax breaks for homeowners
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the effective tax rate on owner-occupied housing is negative, while the effective tax rate on rental housing is around 18 percent.
Blogs
Economist | An unexploited resource
Ask an economist about which are the most efficient kinds of taxes, and property taxes will be high up on the list. They distort behaviour less, and are more growth friendly, than taxes on income, employment or even consumption.
Politico | Tax lobbyists spring into action
The proposal by Senate Finance Committee leaders to move on a foundation for tax reform with a “blank slate” — leaving thousands of provisions on the chopping block — will spark a furious lobbying spree that’s bound to exhaust both K Street and Capitol Hill.
CNN Money | The business traveler tax threat
Ever travel to New York for work, even for a day? How about to any other state? Whenever you do, you're entering into another universe that may require you to pay tax on the income you earn while you're there.
Econ Comments & Analysis
CRS | Tax Provisions Expiring in 2013 ("Tax Extenders")
Dozens of temporary tax provisions are scheduled to expire at the end of 2013 under current law. Most of the provisions set to expire in 2013 have been part of past temporary tax extension legislation.
AEI | Rethinking tax breaks for homeowners
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the effective tax rate on owner-occupied housing is negative, while the effective tax rate on rental housing is around 18 percent.
Blogs
Economist | An unexploited resource
Ask an economist about which are the most efficient kinds of taxes, and property taxes will be high up on the list. They distort behaviour less, and are more growth friendly, than taxes on income, employment or even consumption.
Employment
Blogs
WSJ | Is There Hope for Recent College Grads?
Since the great recession, the labor market has become an especially difficult place for recent college graduates.
Heritage Foundation | A Win for Coal Exports, American Jobs
The Obama Administration has imposed a laundry list of new regulations on the coal industry, making it increasingly difficult to mine coal and to build and operate coal-fired power plants, which are critical to providing Americans with affordable electricity.
WSJ | Is There Hope for Recent College Grads?
Since the great recession, the labor market has become an especially difficult place for recent college graduates.
Heritage Foundation | A Win for Coal Exports, American Jobs
The Obama Administration has imposed a laundry list of new regulations on the coal industry, making it increasingly difficult to mine coal and to build and operate coal-fired power plants, which are critical to providing Americans with affordable electricity.
Budget
News
National Journal | If You Thought the Fiscal Cliff Was Bad, Wait Until This Year’s Debt-Ceiling Showdown
In a week filled with landmark Supreme Court decisions and significant movement in the Senate on overhauling immigration laws, it’s hard to wrap one’s mind around the prospect of yet another budget battle. Yet lurking on the other side of the August recess are more fiscal deadlines and potential chaos, culminating in the need to increase the debt ceiling, probably in October or November.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Politico | The student loan debt perfect storm
With Congress and the Obama administration focused on Monday’s deadline to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling, it is an apt time to examine the larger consequences of America’s staggering student loan debt load.
Washington Post | The left needs to get real on Medicare, Social Security and the deficit
There is a rising chorus on the left, most recently articulated in an op-ed Monday by Neera Tanden and Michael Linden [“Deficits are not destiny”] of the Center for American Progress, that our fiscal conversation should be declared over and plans for meaningful entitlement reforms mothballed.
WSJ | What's Really 'Immoral' About Student Loans
Unless Congress acts, interest rates for government subsidized student loans will double to 6.8% from 3.4% on July 1. In May, House Republicans passed a bill that would index rates on new loans to the rate on 10-year Treasurys (currently about 2.6%), plus 2.5 percentage points, with an 8.5% cap. But with little Democratic support in the Senate, that bill is dead in the water.
Mercatus | The Federal Fiscal Predicament: What Seems Better Is Actually Worse
Of late there has been a great amount of discussion of whether federal deficit reduction should remain a national policy priority. While bipartisan fiscal watchdog groups like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget continue to argue that it should be, there have been plenty to argue that it should not. Some of the latter have even suggested that the deficit problem is now essentially under control, and that arguments to contain further federal debt accumulation serve a “political calculus” rather than a substantive need.
NBER | Loans for Higher Education: Does the Dream Come True?
This paper analyzes the impact of student loans for higher education on enrollment, dropout decisions, and earnings. We investigate the massive State Guaranteed Loan (SGL) program implemented in Chile in 2006. Our empirical analysis is based on the estimation of a sequential schooling decision model with unobserved heterogeneity.
National Journal | If You Thought the Fiscal Cliff Was Bad, Wait Until This Year’s Debt-Ceiling Showdown
In a week filled with landmark Supreme Court decisions and significant movement in the Senate on overhauling immigration laws, it’s hard to wrap one’s mind around the prospect of yet another budget battle. Yet lurking on the other side of the August recess are more fiscal deadlines and potential chaos, culminating in the need to increase the debt ceiling, probably in October or November.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Politico | The student loan debt perfect storm
With Congress and the Obama administration focused on Monday’s deadline to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling, it is an apt time to examine the larger consequences of America’s staggering student loan debt load.
Washington Post | The left needs to get real on Medicare, Social Security and the deficit
There is a rising chorus on the left, most recently articulated in an op-ed Monday by Neera Tanden and Michael Linden [“Deficits are not destiny”] of the Center for American Progress, that our fiscal conversation should be declared over and plans for meaningful entitlement reforms mothballed.
WSJ | What's Really 'Immoral' About Student Loans
Unless Congress acts, interest rates for government subsidized student loans will double to 6.8% from 3.4% on July 1. In May, House Republicans passed a bill that would index rates on new loans to the rate on 10-year Treasurys (currently about 2.6%), plus 2.5 percentage points, with an 8.5% cap. But with little Democratic support in the Senate, that bill is dead in the water.
Mercatus | The Federal Fiscal Predicament: What Seems Better Is Actually Worse
Of late there has been a great amount of discussion of whether federal deficit reduction should remain a national policy priority. While bipartisan fiscal watchdog groups like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget continue to argue that it should be, there have been plenty to argue that it should not. Some of the latter have even suggested that the deficit problem is now essentially under control, and that arguments to contain further federal debt accumulation serve a “political calculus” rather than a substantive need.
NBER | Loans for Higher Education: Does the Dream Come True?
This paper analyzes the impact of student loans for higher education on enrollment, dropout decisions, and earnings. We investigate the massive State Guaranteed Loan (SGL) program implemented in Chile in 2006. Our empirical analysis is based on the estimation of a sequential schooling decision model with unobserved heterogeneity.
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