General Economics

News                                                                                                                             
Washington Times | Detroit's stealth business boom
Detroit is struggling with the largest municipal bankruptcy in the nation's history, which was brought on in part by the flight of both residents and businesses in recent decades. But Detroit's downtown area is enjoying rapid growth.
Bloomberg | Rogoff Saying This Time Different Calls for Reflation
The economist whose research foreshadowed the unusually long slog back from the 2008 financial crash is calling for the unlikeliest kind of central banker to lead the Federal Reserve: one who welcomes some inflation.
Market Watch | Goldman Sachs lifts euro-zone GDP view to 0.2%
After recent improvement in economic data out of the euro zone, analysts at Goldman Sachs on Monday lifted the forecast for the region's second-quarter gross-domestic-product growth to 0.2% quarter-on-quarter.

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
WSJ | Competing Visions for the Future of Housing Finance
A House reform would get government out of mortgages. The Senate reform is phony.
Washington Times | EDITORIAL: Recovering lost prosperity
The president’s housing-bailout plan is no bargain
RCM | The 2008 Mortgage Meltdown Occurred By Design
A major factor in the 2007-2009 recession was the sharp downturn in the real estate sector.
Washington Times | MEYER: It’s the price of tuition that hurts
Interest rates aren’t all that’s wrong about college costs.
NBER | Retirement Plan Type and Employee Mobility: The Role of Selection and Incentive Effects
In this paper, we quantify the role of selection by exploiting a natural experiment at a single employer in which an employee’s probability of transitioning from a defined benefit (DB) to a defined contribution (DC) pension plan was exogenously affected by default rules.
AEI | Moving forward on housing reform
Five years after the worst part of the financial crisis, the housing market is in recovery, with home prices and sales rising, construction on the uptick and foreclosure rates down from the crisis-era peak.

Blogs                                                                                                                             
WSJ | Food-Stamp Use Rises; Some 15% Get Benefits
Food-stamp use rose 2.4% in the U.S. in May from a year earlier, with more than 15% of the U.S. population receiving benefits.
Heritage Foundation | Americans Don’t Need More of Obama’s Stimulus Spending
Stimulus spending—whether on education, manufacturing, or, in this case, infrastructure—did not result in overall economic growth. It only worsened budget deficits and removed resources from the private sector in the near term.

Health Care

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
CRS | Medical Loss Ratio Requirements Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA): Issues for Congress
Several issues have been raised about the MLR provisions since the ACA was enacted. These include considerations regarding the treatment of insurance agent and broker bonuses and commissions, and the impact of the MLR on insurers that provide high deductible plans.

Blogs                                                                                                                             
Market Watch | Harry Reid: U.S. should eventually move to single-payer health-care system
With both sides of Congress on vacation, the political news is being made at home, not in Washington, and Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid came out with quite a statement on a local television program.

Monetary

News                                                                                                                             
Bloomberg |
Fed Muffling Taper Talk Spurs High-Grade Revival: Credit Markets
Investment-grade corporate bonds are showing signs of life following the biggest losses since 2008 as concern wanes that a Federal Reserve pullback from record stimulus will cause a surge in interest rates.
WSJ | Doubts Arise Over U.S. Dollar's Strength
Dollar Stumbles as Investors Question Strength of Recovery.

Taxes

News                                                                                                                             
Politico | Bitcoin: Tax haven of the future
Tomorrow’s tax havens could be fueled by new technology like Bitcoin and Litecoin — online currencies that can be used to purchase everything from coffee to illegal drugs.
CNN Money | Tax hike in question as Japan GDP disappoints
The pace of economic growth has slowed in Japan, casting doubt over the country's ambitious stimulus plan and a planned tax hike.

Blogs                                                                                                                             
Heritage Foundation | Family-Run Retailer: Internet Sales Tax Would Put Me Out of Business
While a proposal to tax Internet sales is seemingly stalled in Congress at the moment, a number of online retailers remain fearful of the ill-conceived Marketplace Fairness Act.

Employment

Blogs                                                                                                                             
WSJ: Real Time Economics | Teens Face Worst Labor Market
The unemployment rate for people 16 to 19 years old is 23.7%, compared to 7.2% for the population as a whole. In fact, when you take teens out of the equation, the jobless rate for people 20 years and older is just 6.8%.

Budget

News                                                                                                                             
Market Watch | Bundesbank sees new Greek bailout in 2014
Germany's Bundesbank expects Greece will need extra financial aid at the beginning of 2014, weekly magazine Der Spiegel reported over the weekend, citing a document from the central bank.
WSJ | White House Sifts Fiscal Ideas With Band of Senators
"Meetings Focus on Fiscal Issues as Fall Deadlines Loom."


Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
WSJ | The Budget Sequester Is a Success The Obama spending blitz is over and the deficit is heading below 4% of GDP.
Washington Times | ARNOLD: Keeping bloated government on a forced dietPreserving caps on spending is more crucial than defunding Obamacare.