News
Bloomberg | Economic Expansion in U.S. Has Been Stronger, More Irregular
The recovery from the worst U.S. recession in the post-World War II era has been stronger than previously estimated. It’s also been more uneven.
Market Watch | Chicago PMI edges up in July, reports say
Chicago PMI, or the Chicago business barometer as it's formally called, accelerated a bit in July, according to published reports Wednesday.
Market Watch | The new GDP methodology: What you need to know
The Commerce Department has made changes to how it calculates gross domestic product, designed to have the data better reflect the so-called knowledge economy. The U.S. government adjusted data all the way back to 1929, and other countries have or are about to make similar changes to their data.
Bloomberg | American Dream Slipping as Homeownership at 18-Year Low
The U.S. homeownership rate, which soared to a record high 69.2 percent in 2004, is back where it was two decades ago, before the housing bubble inflated, busted and ripped more than 7 million Americans from their homes.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Real Clear Markets | Housing Finance Reform: Fool Me Once Shame On You, Fool Me Twice Shame On Me
In 1992 Congress enacted a bill to regulate Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Called the "Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act" (the Safety and Soundness Act), its ostensible goal was to protect taxpayers.
Fortune | U.S. pay raises: Not so hot, but outpacing inflation
Maybe your latest raise hasn't got you breaking out the bubbly, but cheer up. It probably still beats what managers are getting in some other countries.
Blogs
WSJ | Five Takeaways From GDP Report
Appearances can be deceiving. The 1.7% pace of growth in the second quarter is markedly better than the roughly 1% rate economists expected, and well ahead of the most pessimistic estimates.
Library of Economics | The Economics of Self-Imposed Price Ceilings
About once every two weeks, I drive to Costco for my favorite fast food per dollar: the famous Costco hotdog. It's priced, along with a soda with free refills, at $1.50 plus tax. In Sand City, California, my local Costco, the tax-inclusive price is $1.62.
WSJ | Highlights From GDP’s 83 Years of Revisions
Comprehensive revisions to the country’s economic growth measures were released Wednesday by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, an exercise the agency undertakes every five years.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Health Care
News
CNN Money | Government shutdown won't shut Obamacare: Report
The new health care law draws funding from sources that are not subject to the congressional budget process, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. Also, the revenue collected under Obamacare is considered to be part of a category that ensures the "safety of human life or the protection of property," which makes it immune to government shutdowns, the report said.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | How ObamaCare Hurts Patients
President Obama promised to mend the failings in the American health-care system, and yet for cancer treatment, ObamaCare is taking a rotten feature of the old system and making it worse.
NBER | Evidence for Significant Compression of Morbidity In the Elderly U.S. Population
The question of whether morbidity is being compressed into the period just before death has been at the center of health debates in the United States for some time.
CATO | Defunding Obamacare: Worth a Try
After a summer of relative quiet on the fiscal front, Congress is approaching two deadlines that will be vital not just in terms of the U.S. economy, but for the future of the Republican party as well.
Heritage Foundation | Defunding Obamacare: The Next Best Option
Congressional opponents of Obamacare continue to search for the best approach to relieve the American public of the unpopular law’s burdens. Of course, the ideal solution is Obamacare’s full repeal. However, short of its full repeal, Congress’s best option is to defund the entire law to prevent its implementation.
Blogs
CATO | CBO: One-Year Delay of Employer Mandate Increases Spending, Debt, and Dependence
The Congressional Budget Office has released its cost estimate of the Obama administration’s one-year repeal delay of ObamaCare’s employer mandate and anti-fraud provisions. The CBO expects the Obama administration’s unilateral rewriting of federal law (my words, not CBO’s) will increase federal spending by $3 billion in 2014 and reduce federal revenues by a net $9 billion, thereby increasing the federal debt by $12 billion.
CNN Money | Government shutdown won't shut Obamacare: Report
The new health care law draws funding from sources that are not subject to the congressional budget process, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. Also, the revenue collected under Obamacare is considered to be part of a category that ensures the "safety of human life or the protection of property," which makes it immune to government shutdowns, the report said.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | How ObamaCare Hurts Patients
President Obama promised to mend the failings in the American health-care system, and yet for cancer treatment, ObamaCare is taking a rotten feature of the old system and making it worse.
NBER | Evidence for Significant Compression of Morbidity In the Elderly U.S. Population
The question of whether morbidity is being compressed into the period just before death has been at the center of health debates in the United States for some time.
CATO | Defunding Obamacare: Worth a Try
After a summer of relative quiet on the fiscal front, Congress is approaching two deadlines that will be vital not just in terms of the U.S. economy, but for the future of the Republican party as well.
Heritage Foundation | Defunding Obamacare: The Next Best Option
Congressional opponents of Obamacare continue to search for the best approach to relieve the American public of the unpopular law’s burdens. Of course, the ideal solution is Obamacare’s full repeal. However, short of its full repeal, Congress’s best option is to defund the entire law to prevent its implementation.
Blogs
CATO | CBO: One-Year Delay of Employer Mandate Increases Spending, Debt, and Dependence
The Congressional Budget Office has released its cost estimate of the Obama administration’s one-year repeal delay of ObamaCare’s employer mandate and anti-fraud provisions. The CBO expects the Obama administration’s unilateral rewriting of federal law (my words, not CBO’s) will increase federal spending by $3 billion in 2014 and reduce federal revenues by a net $9 billion, thereby increasing the federal debt by $12 billion.
Monetary
News
Bloomberg | Following Bernanke Means Using Precedent of Unprecedented Policy
The success of the next Federal Reserve chairman, be it Janet Yellen, Lawrence Summers or someone else, will depend less on their grounding in monetary policy orthodoxy than on their readiness to reach beyond it.
Bloomberg | Fed’s Debit-Card Swipe-Fee Rules Rejected by U.S. Judge
The Federal Reserve disregarded Congress’s intent when deciding how much banks can charge merchants for debit-card transactions, a judge ruled, rejecting Dodd-Frank-imposed regulations governing “swipe” fees.
Blogs
WSJ | What to Expect From Fed Today
The Federal Reserve wraps up its latest policy-meeting today. The bottom line: The Fed may tweak the wording of its policy statement to reflect comments that Chairman Ben Bernanke has made since its last policy meeting in June, but officials are unlikely to actually announce any policy shifts.
Bloomberg | Following Bernanke Means Using Precedent of Unprecedented Policy
The success of the next Federal Reserve chairman, be it Janet Yellen, Lawrence Summers or someone else, will depend less on their grounding in monetary policy orthodoxy than on their readiness to reach beyond it.
Bloomberg | Fed’s Debit-Card Swipe-Fee Rules Rejected by U.S. Judge
The Federal Reserve disregarded Congress’s intent when deciding how much banks can charge merchants for debit-card transactions, a judge ruled, rejecting Dodd-Frank-imposed regulations governing “swipe” fees.
Blogs
WSJ | What to Expect From Fed Today
The Federal Reserve wraps up its latest policy-meeting today. The bottom line: The Fed may tweak the wording of its policy statement to reflect comments that Chairman Ben Bernanke has made since its last policy meeting in June, but officials are unlikely to actually announce any policy shifts.
Taxes
News
Politico | Senators vague on tax-break cuts
Indiana Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly’s proposal was three paragraphs long. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) called for major tax cuts without explaining how to finance them. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) skipped it altogether.
Washington Post | Obama’s plan to link corporate tax reform, jobs spending is quickly rejected by GOP
President Obama on Tuesday proposed spending more on creating jobs in exchange for an overhaul of business taxes. But the idea quickly devolved into the type of partisan finger-pointing that shows why any agreement will be so difficult.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | Marketplace fairness deception
The deceptively named Marketplace Fairness Act, H.R. 684, currently being considered in Washington would change these principles. It would create a new requirement for online retailers to charge taxes based on where a consumer lives or where he intends to use the product purchased. That’s like requiring any retailer to “card” customers, find out where they live, and then charge them that sales tax at the checkout counter. What a nightmare — for everyone involved.
WSJ | Obama's 'Grand Bargain' With Obama
In Chattanooga on Tuesday, the latest stop on his economic inequality tour, President Obama made himself an offer he couldn't refuse. If Congressional Republicans agree to a corporate tax increase, he said, then he'll agree to spend more money on his favorite public-works projects. If Republicans bargain hard, will he also offer an expansion of ObamaCare as a sweetener?
Politico | Senators vague on tax-break cuts
Indiana Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly’s proposal was three paragraphs long. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) called for major tax cuts without explaining how to finance them. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) skipped it altogether.
Washington Post | Obama’s plan to link corporate tax reform, jobs spending is quickly rejected by GOP
President Obama on Tuesday proposed spending more on creating jobs in exchange for an overhaul of business taxes. But the idea quickly devolved into the type of partisan finger-pointing that shows why any agreement will be so difficult.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | Marketplace fairness deception
The deceptively named Marketplace Fairness Act, H.R. 684, currently being considered in Washington would change these principles. It would create a new requirement for online retailers to charge taxes based on where a consumer lives or where he intends to use the product purchased. That’s like requiring any retailer to “card” customers, find out where they live, and then charge them that sales tax at the checkout counter. What a nightmare — for everyone involved.
WSJ | Obama's 'Grand Bargain' With Obama
In Chattanooga on Tuesday, the latest stop on his economic inequality tour, President Obama made himself an offer he couldn't refuse. If Congressional Republicans agree to a corporate tax increase, he said, then he'll agree to spend more money on his favorite public-works projects. If Republicans bargain hard, will he also offer an expansion of ObamaCare as a sweetener?
Employment
News
CNN Money | Private sector jobs growth stronger than expected
Private firms added 200,000 jobs in July, according to a report Wednesday from the payroll processing firm ADP. That's up slightly from an additional 198,000 jobs in June.
Bloomberg | Employment Costs in U.S. Rose Above Forecast in Second Quarter
Employment expenses in the U.S. grew faster than forecast in the second quarter as private industry spent more on wages.
CNN Money | Eurozone's employment crisis might have peaked
The eurozone -- plagued in recent years by sky-high joblessness and rampant youth unemployment -- might be turning a corner.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Forbes | Would A Higher Minimum Wage Help McDonald's Workers?
In the recent fury over a proposed budget for low-wage workers circulated by McDonald’s, Forbes contributor Laura Shin asked “Will the McDonald’s Employee Budget help Get the Minimum Wage Raised?” I hope not, but not just for the sake of McDonald’s customers and shareholders. I hope not for the sake of McDonald’s workers and for the sake of low-wage workers everywhere.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Keystone XL Jobs vs. Subsidized Green Jobs
President Obama criticized the job estimate numbers from the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in an interview with The New York Times over the weekend, but if the president wants to complain about job creation, he should really take a look as his failed green jobs programs.
WSJ | Students Make College Towns’ Poverty Look Worse
College students living in off-campus housing have been throwing off poverty measures, according to a new report.
CNN Money | Private sector jobs growth stronger than expected
Private firms added 200,000 jobs in July, according to a report Wednesday from the payroll processing firm ADP. That's up slightly from an additional 198,000 jobs in June.
Bloomberg | Employment Costs in U.S. Rose Above Forecast in Second Quarter
Employment expenses in the U.S. grew faster than forecast in the second quarter as private industry spent more on wages.
CNN Money | Eurozone's employment crisis might have peaked
The eurozone -- plagued in recent years by sky-high joblessness and rampant youth unemployment -- might be turning a corner.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Forbes | Would A Higher Minimum Wage Help McDonald's Workers?
In the recent fury over a proposed budget for low-wage workers circulated by McDonald’s, Forbes contributor Laura Shin asked “Will the McDonald’s Employee Budget help Get the Minimum Wage Raised?” I hope not, but not just for the sake of McDonald’s customers and shareholders. I hope not for the sake of McDonald’s workers and for the sake of low-wage workers everywhere.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Keystone XL Jobs vs. Subsidized Green Jobs
President Obama criticized the job estimate numbers from the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in an interview with The New York Times over the weekend, but if the president wants to complain about job creation, he should really take a look as his failed green jobs programs.
WSJ | Students Make College Towns’ Poverty Look Worse
College students living in off-campus housing have been throwing off poverty measures, according to a new report.
Budget
News
Market Watch | Treasury will sell fewer notes this quarter
The Treasury Department said Wednesday it will sell fewer notes this quarter given the improvement in the fiscal outlook. A Treasury official said the department expects to gradually reduce the sizes of 2-year and 3-year notes between now and the end of September.
Market Watch | Treasury will sell fewer notes this quarter
The Treasury Department said Wednesday it will sell fewer notes this quarter given the improvement in the fiscal outlook. A Treasury official said the department expects to gradually reduce the sizes of 2-year and 3-year notes between now and the end of September.
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