News
Bloomberg | China Exports Unexpectedly Drop; Imports in Economy Drag
China’s exports and imports unexpectedly declined in June, underscoring the severity of the slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy as Premier Li Keqiang reins in credit growth.
CNN Money | AIG, GE Capital tagged "systemically important," will face greater regulation
American International Group and GE Capital will face increased supervision after regulators announced Tuesday that the firms had been deemed systemically important and "potential threats to financial stability."
FOX Business | Wholesale Inventories Fall by Most in a Year and a Half
Wholesale inventories fell in May by the most in a year and a half, the second straight monthly decline and a sign that restocking by businesses could weigh against economic growth in the second quarter.
CNN Money | IRS chief seeks to stop bonuses
The news comes after an outcry over IRS plans to award $70 million in bonuses by Sept. 30. Werfel told his 90,000 Internal Revenue Service workforce that he aims to reverse the plan to award bonuses, according to a memo. He blamed the move on the sequester -- the $85 billion in forced spending cuts that has hit all federal agencies.
Bloomberg | OPEC Sees U.S. Shale Boom Eroding Demand for 2014 Crude
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries forecast the world will need less of its crude next year, even as global oil demand growth rebounds to its strongest pace since 2010, amid competing supply sources.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Real Clear Markets | Obama Has Lost All Economic Control, Both Good and Bad
President Obama's greatest danger could be that it's too late for an economic recovery. Now in office longer than Bush has been out, Obama has effectively lost his best excuse for a poor economy. What is unrecognized is that he may equally have lost his ability to take credit for a good one.
Fortune | Wall Street is a bright spot this earnings season
Despite slower earnings growth expected overall this earnings season, America's big banks aren't sweating it.
WSJ | Foreclosure Squeeze Crimps Las Vegas Real-Estate Market
In a city dotted with tens of thousands of vacant houses, Jericho Guarin figured it would be easy to buy his first home. But nearly a year after beginning a search late last summer, he has come up dry.
AEI | The White House sends a wake-up call to the Fed
While the Fed appears to be busy preparing markets to "taper" QE as early as September, the White House is lowering its 2013 growth forecast , from 2.6% to 2.4% while assuming the dreaded sequester is ended.
Blogs
Neighborhood Effects | Why do almost all economists oppose U.S. farm policy?
There are many policies about which economists disagree. To read the news you might think that economists disagree about everything. In reality, there are plenty of areas in which the economics profession has reached a consensus. One is farm policy.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Health Care
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | Americans Are Living Longer, but Not Necessarily Healthier, Study Shows
Americans are living longer than they did two decades ago, a new study shows, but they are losing ground in key measures of health status to counterparts in other developed nations around the globe.
Politico | Repeal the health-care law
Business owners across America breathed a collective sigh of relief last week when the Obama administration announced it would grant them a one-year reprieve from some of Obamacare’s most onerous rules. It was cold comfort, though, to millions of individuals and families whose concerns about the impact of the Affordable Care Act continue to be ignored by the White House.
WSJ | U.S. Struggles to Meet Health-Law Deadline
When Obama administration officials delayed a central plank of the new health law—requiring that big employers offer health insurance to workers—they said it was to help businesses pleading for more time.
CRS | Health Insurance Premium Credits in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)
ACA requires health insurance exchanges to be established in every state by January 1, 2014, either by the state itself or by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).
WSJ | Americans Are Living Longer, but Not Necessarily Healthier, Study Shows
Americans are living longer than they did two decades ago, a new study shows, but they are losing ground in key measures of health status to counterparts in other developed nations around the globe.
Politico | Repeal the health-care law
Business owners across America breathed a collective sigh of relief last week when the Obama administration announced it would grant them a one-year reprieve from some of Obamacare’s most onerous rules. It was cold comfort, though, to millions of individuals and families whose concerns about the impact of the Affordable Care Act continue to be ignored by the White House.
WSJ | U.S. Struggles to Meet Health-Law Deadline
When Obama administration officials delayed a central plank of the new health law—requiring that big employers offer health insurance to workers—they said it was to help businesses pleading for more time.
CRS | Health Insurance Premium Credits in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)
ACA requires health insurance exchanges to be established in every state by January 1, 2014, either by the state itself or by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Monetary
News
Politico | Ben Bernanke and the Fed: Lost in translation
Bernanke will speak Wednesday afternoon at a National Bureau of Economic Research conference in Cambridge, Mass., and is expected to talk about the 100 years of Fed history. But he also could try to clear up a more modern, and still fresh, kerfuffle over his recent statements during a news conference on monetary policy.
Market Watch | SEC lifts hedge-fund advertising ban
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday approved a rule lifting a decades-old ban on hedge-fund advertising. By a 4-to-1 vote, the commission will allow hedge fund and private-equity firms to advertise, with constraints including alerting the commission ahead of an offering.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Market Watch | Fed's Williams: Moderation may be best policy
Economic research suggests that moderation might be the best course for the Federal Reserve, given uncertainty about the effects of its new asset-purchase program, said John Williams, the president of the San Francisco Fed Bank, on Tuesday.
AEI | Three things Bernanke won’t mention at his press conference
AEI scholars John Makin and Desmond Lachman discussed the possibilities of a recession, deflation, and costs of continuing QE in a conference call on June 26, 2013. Below are their insights to supplement what you won't hear today.
Blogs
WSJ | What to Look for in Fed Minutes
Investors, traders and others who have had trouble digesting the Federal Reserve’s recent messages will have more to chew on today with the 2 p.m. release of the minutes of the central bank’s June policy meeting.
Market Watch | Summers, not Yellen, leading candidate for top Fed job: report
Former Obama economic adviser Lawrence Summers, and not Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen, is the leading candidate to replace Fed Chief Ben Bernanke should he chose to step down when his term ends early next year, according to a report by Politico on Wednesday.
Politico | Ben Bernanke and the Fed: Lost in translation
Bernanke will speak Wednesday afternoon at a National Bureau of Economic Research conference in Cambridge, Mass., and is expected to talk about the 100 years of Fed history. But he also could try to clear up a more modern, and still fresh, kerfuffle over his recent statements during a news conference on monetary policy.
Market Watch | SEC lifts hedge-fund advertising ban
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday approved a rule lifting a decades-old ban on hedge-fund advertising. By a 4-to-1 vote, the commission will allow hedge fund and private-equity firms to advertise, with constraints including alerting the commission ahead of an offering.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Market Watch | Fed's Williams: Moderation may be best policy
Economic research suggests that moderation might be the best course for the Federal Reserve, given uncertainty about the effects of its new asset-purchase program, said John Williams, the president of the San Francisco Fed Bank, on Tuesday.
AEI | Three things Bernanke won’t mention at his press conference
AEI scholars John Makin and Desmond Lachman discussed the possibilities of a recession, deflation, and costs of continuing QE in a conference call on June 26, 2013. Below are their insights to supplement what you won't hear today.
Blogs
WSJ | What to Look for in Fed Minutes
Investors, traders and others who have had trouble digesting the Federal Reserve’s recent messages will have more to chew on today with the 2 p.m. release of the minutes of the central bank’s June policy meeting.
Market Watch | Summers, not Yellen, leading candidate for top Fed job: report
Former Obama economic adviser Lawrence Summers, and not Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen, is the leading candidate to replace Fed Chief Ben Bernanke should he chose to step down when his term ends early next year, according to a report by Politico on Wednesday.
Taxes
News
Politico | Senate leaders disagree on tax reform
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday took a dim assessment of the efforts of Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) to wipe the tax code clean of loopholes and deductions and rebuild it piece-by-piece. McConnell worries that Democrats will exploit the effort to bring in more revenue — precisely the opportunity that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said piqued his interest.
National Journal | Chris Cox Returns to the Hill to Renew his Battle Against Internet Taxes
The former nine-term legislator from Southern California has been hired by NetChoice—which represents AOL, Expedia, eBay, NewsCorp, Yahoo, and others—to help persuade lawmakers that the proposed Marketplace Fairness Act would not only stymie electronic commerce but could also be unconstitutional.
CNN Money | The hidden 17% tax: Your cell phone bill
Local, state and federal governments, 911 systems and even school districts tack on taxes and surcharges to your wireless bill that end up costing American cell phone customers an extra 17.2%, on average, according to the Tax Foundation. That's up from 16.3% fifteen months ago.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | A GOP Game Plan for Tax Reform
Thanks to the efforts of Democrat Sen. Max Baucus and Republican Rep. Dave Camp, Congress will take up tax reform this year. Before the debate begins, however, Republicans need to set out the principles that represent our values. In my 24 years in the House and Senate, I never wrote a bill that represented a 100% statement of my values, but I always found it important to know where the North Star was as I tried to navigate through the swamp.
Politico | Senate leaders disagree on tax reform
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday took a dim assessment of the efforts of Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) to wipe the tax code clean of loopholes and deductions and rebuild it piece-by-piece. McConnell worries that Democrats will exploit the effort to bring in more revenue — precisely the opportunity that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said piqued his interest.
National Journal | Chris Cox Returns to the Hill to Renew his Battle Against Internet Taxes
The former nine-term legislator from Southern California has been hired by NetChoice—which represents AOL, Expedia, eBay, NewsCorp, Yahoo, and others—to help persuade lawmakers that the proposed Marketplace Fairness Act would not only stymie electronic commerce but could also be unconstitutional.
CNN Money | The hidden 17% tax: Your cell phone bill
Local, state and federal governments, 911 systems and even school districts tack on taxes and surcharges to your wireless bill that end up costing American cell phone customers an extra 17.2%, on average, according to the Tax Foundation. That's up from 16.3% fifteen months ago.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | A GOP Game Plan for Tax Reform
Thanks to the efforts of Democrat Sen. Max Baucus and Republican Rep. Dave Camp, Congress will take up tax reform this year. Before the debate begins, however, Republicans need to set out the principles that represent our values. In my 24 years in the House and Senate, I never wrote a bill that represented a 100% statement of my values, but I always found it important to know where the North Star was as I tried to navigate through the swamp.
Employment
News
National Journa | Good News: Youth Employment Slows Violence. Bad News: Youth Unemployment Is Spiking.
It may sound obvious, but a new study shows that it's also true: Teen employment helps keep kids out of trouble. Researchers from Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies found that in Boston, low-income teenagers with summer jobs are less prone to violence and drug and alcohol use.
CNBC | Why Underemployment May Be Worse Than It Looks
The level of underemployed workers looks bad on its face but even worse when it's not the government doing the counting.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Real Clear Markets | The Astonishing Collapse of Work In America
Three overarching facts illuminate the strange and troubling economic paradoxes for America from the terrible 2008 crash and its aftermath.
Blogs
WSJ | Vital Signs Chart: More Than 3 Unemployed Per Job Opening
Competition for jobs has eased noticeably since the recession. For every job opening in May, there were slightly more than three people — 3.07 — looking for work. That is up from the previous month, but well below the 3.37 level seen in May 2012.
National Journa | Good News: Youth Employment Slows Violence. Bad News: Youth Unemployment Is Spiking.
It may sound obvious, but a new study shows that it's also true: Teen employment helps keep kids out of trouble. Researchers from Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies found that in Boston, low-income teenagers with summer jobs are less prone to violence and drug and alcohol use.
CNBC | Why Underemployment May Be Worse Than It Looks
The level of underemployed workers looks bad on its face but even worse when it's not the government doing the counting.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Real Clear Markets | The Astonishing Collapse of Work In America
Three overarching facts illuminate the strange and troubling economic paradoxes for America from the terrible 2008 crash and its aftermath.
Blogs
WSJ | Vital Signs Chart: More Than 3 Unemployed Per Job Opening
Competition for jobs has eased noticeably since the recession. For every job opening in May, there were slightly more than three people — 3.07 — looking for work. That is up from the previous month, but well below the 3.37 level seen in May 2012.
Budget
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | Crying ‘wolf’ over sequestration
Remember when President Obama was flying around the country warning everyone that the budget-cutting sequestration would destroy life as we know it America?
CBO | Monthly Budget Review for June 2013
The federal government ran a budget deficit of $512 billion from October 2012 through June 2013 (the first nine months of fiscal year 2013), according to CBO’s estimates.
Blogs
Market Watch | Senate to vote on one-year student-loan fix
The Senate on Wednesday will try to retroactively scale back interest rates on federally subsidized student loans, but the effort is poised to come up short.
Washington Times | Crying ‘wolf’ over sequestration
Remember when President Obama was flying around the country warning everyone that the budget-cutting sequestration would destroy life as we know it America?
CBO | Monthly Budget Review for June 2013
The federal government ran a budget deficit of $512 billion from October 2012 through June 2013 (the first nine months of fiscal year 2013), according to CBO’s estimates.
Blogs
Market Watch | Senate to vote on one-year student-loan fix
The Senate on Wednesday will try to retroactively scale back interest rates on federally subsidized student loans, but the effort is poised to come up short.
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