News
Bloomberg | Durable-Goods Drop Imperils Outlook for U.S. GDP Pickup
Orders for durable goods dropped in July by the most in almost a year, calling into question the strength of the projected pickup in U.S. growth.
Politico | When energy dreams fall short
If the energy visions of past years had come true, throngs of Americans would be using switchgrass to fuel their cars and running their homes on electricity from nuclear fusion or carbon-capturing coal plants.
CNN Money | Merger to create second biggest stock exchange
In yet another blow to Nasdaq, two of its main rivals-- BATS and Direct Edge-- announced a merger Monday morning that will create the second largest stock exchange by volume.
Bloomberg | Euro-Area Economic Confidence Seen Up to 17-Month High
Economic confidence in the euro area probably rose to the highest level in 17 months in August, adding to signs that the currency bloc’s recovery from a record-long recession is gathering pace.
Washington Times | Spendopedia: Federal waste collection site opens on Internet
Has government waste become so bad that we need an encyclopedia to keep track? One watchdog group seems to think so and has started a publicly edited, crowdsourced website that compiles cases of fiscal abuse, modeled after the popular site Wikipedia.
CNBC | Home prices across the US defy gravity despite rising rates
The surge in home prices over the past year may have some homebuyers wondering if the market has gotten ahead of itself. Rising interest rates aside, however, housing prices in most parts of the country appear to have plenty of room to move higher if the wider economic recovery remains intact.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | Bankers Haven't Gone Rogue—Regulators Have
Readers of the Journal surely have noticed that hardly a day goes by without a story about some new federal fine or legal action against a major international bank. Banks have always had problems and the usual element of corporate misbehavior. But by historical measure, the government's current assault on financial institutions is not normal.
Politico | The real threat to the open Internet
What started as a commercial dispute over TV rights (known as “retransmission consent”) between CBS and Time Warner Cable (TWC) has escalated in a troublesome wayhar. A breakdown in carriage negotiations that affects some three million television subscribers is also denying access to Internet content to more than 11 million TWC broadband subscribers.
Economic Times | We're all still hostages to the big banks
Nearly five years after the bankruptcy of Lehman Bros. touched off a global financial crisis, we are no safer. Huge, complex and opaque banks continue to take enormous risks that endanger the economy.
Bloomberg | Rapid U.S. Growth Is Missing, Not Gone Forever
We are now about five years into the deleveraging, and the related slow global growth, that followed the 2008 financial crisis. My forecast is for another five years of unwinding the excess borrowing by banks worldwide, U.S. consumers and many other sectors.
AEI | Get onboard shale revolution
As an economist, the transparent political melodrama over the production of shale gas concerns me. Energy companies are unable to drill for natural gas on government land and in some states like California and New York, because of unreasonable restrictions on the advanced drilling technology known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”
Blogs
Economist | What was mercantilism?
Mercantilism is one of the great whipping boys in the history of economics. The school, which dominated European thought between the 16th and 18th centuries, is now considered no more than a historical artefact—and no self-respecting economist would describe themselves as mercantilist.
Market Watch | Regulators may let lenders avoid holding stake in mortgages without 20% down payment
Federal regulators may ease rules on the types of mortgage securities in which lenders will be required to keep a stake, according to recent news reports.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Health Care
News
National Journal | Judging Obamacare: A How-To Guide
When some of the Affordable Care Act's most critical features go into effect Oct. 1, so too will a massive struggle between the law's advocates and allies, as supporters attempt to convince Americans that the law is helping them afford their insurance, while critics scramble to prove it's sending insurance premiums skyward.
Washington Times | UPS dropping health coverage for working spouses
Citing in part the new health care law, the United Parcel Service said it will drop health coverage for about 15,000 working spouses of employees who are eligible for coverage from their own employers.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Heritage Foundation | Obamacare’s Impact on Today’s and Tomorrow’s Taxpayers: An Update
At a time when the nation has nearly $17 trillion in national debt and is running annual trillion-dollar budget deficits, largely attributed to existing entitlements, Obamacare creates two new entitlements projected to cost nearly $1.8 trillion over the next decade.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Morning Bell: Should We Delay or Defund Obamacare?
Conservatives are united in one idea: Obamacare is devastating policy for America. To halt its destructive effects, some are saying Congress should merely delay the law. But to truly stop it, Obamacare must be defunded.
National Journal | Judging Obamacare: A How-To Guide
When some of the Affordable Care Act's most critical features go into effect Oct. 1, so too will a massive struggle between the law's advocates and allies, as supporters attempt to convince Americans that the law is helping them afford their insurance, while critics scramble to prove it's sending insurance premiums skyward.
Washington Times | UPS dropping health coverage for working spouses
Citing in part the new health care law, the United Parcel Service said it will drop health coverage for about 15,000 working spouses of employees who are eligible for coverage from their own employers.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Heritage Foundation | Obamacare’s Impact on Today’s and Tomorrow’s Taxpayers: An Update
At a time when the nation has nearly $17 trillion in national debt and is running annual trillion-dollar budget deficits, largely attributed to existing entitlements, Obamacare creates two new entitlements projected to cost nearly $1.8 trillion over the next decade.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Morning Bell: Should We Delay or Defund Obamacare?
Conservatives are united in one idea: Obamacare is devastating policy for America. To halt its destructive effects, some are saying Congress should merely delay the law. But to truly stop it, Obamacare must be defunded.
Monetary
News
Market Watch | Fed seen making first taper move in September
The Federal Reserve seems on track for a small reduction in the pace of its asset purchase program in September, according to experts attending the central bank’s annual retreat in Jackson Hole.
Bloomberg | Bond Yields Show Selloff Beating ’09 Peaking Until Rate Rise
As the U.S. bond market suffers its worst rout since 2009, the gauge that historically signals more pain for fixed-income investors is instead suggesting yields (USGG10YR) are near their peak.
CNN Money | Fed warned of global risks to tapering
As the Federal Reserve prepares to gradually wind down its stimulus program, some fear that the policy reversal could cause emerging economies to fall like dominoes.
Bloomberg | ECB Council Members Split in Jackson Hole Over Rate Cuts
European Central Bank Governing Council members are split over whether scope remains for further interest-rate cuts as evidence mounts that the euro-area economy is on the mend.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Forbes | Monetary Fight Follies: Milton Friedman's Monetarism Vs. Milton Friedman's 'Market' Monetarism
For readers seeking comic relief with a small amount of policy mixed in, they need look no further than the debate over which side the late, great Milton Friedman would take with regard to the Fed’s perversion of money in the form of “quantitative easing” (QE).
Washington Post | Obama should settle the battle for the Fed soon
The struggle to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve has turned into a soap opera. Bernanke, it is widely assumed, has told President Obama that he doesn’t want a third four-year term — or has been informed that he won’t be reappointed.
Market Watch | Fed seen making first taper move in September
The Federal Reserve seems on track for a small reduction in the pace of its asset purchase program in September, according to experts attending the central bank’s annual retreat in Jackson Hole.
Bloomberg | Bond Yields Show Selloff Beating ’09 Peaking Until Rate Rise
As the U.S. bond market suffers its worst rout since 2009, the gauge that historically signals more pain for fixed-income investors is instead suggesting yields (USGG10YR) are near their peak.
CNN Money | Fed warned of global risks to tapering
As the Federal Reserve prepares to gradually wind down its stimulus program, some fear that the policy reversal could cause emerging economies to fall like dominoes.
Bloomberg | ECB Council Members Split in Jackson Hole Over Rate Cuts
European Central Bank Governing Council members are split over whether scope remains for further interest-rate cuts as evidence mounts that the euro-area economy is on the mend.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Forbes | Monetary Fight Follies: Milton Friedman's Monetarism Vs. Milton Friedman's 'Market' Monetarism
For readers seeking comic relief with a small amount of policy mixed in, they need look no further than the debate over which side the late, great Milton Friedman would take with regard to the Fed’s perversion of money in the form of “quantitative easing” (QE).
Washington Post | Obama should settle the battle for the Fed soon
The struggle to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve has turned into a soap opera. Bernanke, it is widely assumed, has told President Obama that he doesn’t want a third four-year term — or has been informed that he won’t be reappointed.
Taxes
News
Bloomberg | Japan Sales-Tax Decision Due by Early October, Amari Says
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make a decision on a sales-tax increase by early October, before a gathering of Asia-Pacific leaders in Indonesia, according to Economy Minister Akira Amari.
Bloomberg | Lessons of 1986 Show IRS Code Revision Tougher This Time: Taxes
The lessons of the last big revision to the tax code in 1986 show it’s going to be harder to get things done this time.
Bloomberg | Japan Sales-Tax Decision Due by Early October, Amari Says
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make a decision on a sales-tax increase by early October, before a gathering of Asia-Pacific leaders in Indonesia, according to Economy Minister Akira Amari.
Bloomberg | Lessons of 1986 Show IRS Code Revision Tougher This Time: Taxes
The lessons of the last big revision to the tax code in 1986 show it’s going to be harder to get things done this time.
Employment
News
Washington Times | Greece may get another $13.36 billion bailout, says E.U. official
Germany’s commissioner to the European Union says he expects a future aid package for Greece to amount to a little more than 10 billion euros ($13.36 billion) — which is much smaller than the country’s existing two rescue deals.
Blogs
WSJ | American Incomes Face Tough Slog Over Next Few Decades
After peaking at $56,648 in February 2002, the typical income of an American household—the median level of wages, stock-market returns and other earnings, or the point at which half earn more, and half earn less—slumped before nearly matching its peak in January 2008, one month into the Great Recession, when adjusted for inflation, according to an analysis of government data by Sentier Research.
Washington Times | Greece may get another $13.36 billion bailout, says E.U. official
Germany’s commissioner to the European Union says he expects a future aid package for Greece to amount to a little more than 10 billion euros ($13.36 billion) — which is much smaller than the country’s existing two rescue deals.
Blogs
WSJ | American Incomes Face Tough Slog Over Next Few Decades
After peaking at $56,648 in February 2002, the typical income of an American household—the median level of wages, stock-market returns and other earnings, or the point at which half earn more, and half earn less—slumped before nearly matching its peak in January 2008, one month into the Great Recession, when adjusted for inflation, according to an analysis of government data by Sentier Research.
Budget
Econ Comments & Analysis
Real Clear Markets | If Republicans Want Budget Cuts, They Must Empower The Spenders
When the sequester budget cuts went into effect in the spring, Democrats in general and multitudes of Obama Administration officials in particular warned of devastating impacts on federal government programs, employees, and citizens who depend on government services. Now, after several months and with the fiscal year nearing its conclusion, it turns out that the sequester cuts have been accomplished with little pain and much less impact than promised.
Washington Post | After six budget showdowns, big government is mostly unchanged
After 21 / 2 years of budget battles, this is what the federal government looks like now:
Washington Times | Holding the line on spending
Shortly after returning from August recess, Congress will consider a continuing resolution that will fund the federal government past Sept. 30.
Real Clear Markets | If Republicans Want Budget Cuts, They Must Empower The Spenders
When the sequester budget cuts went into effect in the spring, Democrats in general and multitudes of Obama Administration officials in particular warned of devastating impacts on federal government programs, employees, and citizens who depend on government services. Now, after several months and with the fiscal year nearing its conclusion, it turns out that the sequester cuts have been accomplished with little pain and much less impact than promised.
Washington Post | After six budget showdowns, big government is mostly unchanged
After 21 / 2 years of budget battles, this is what the federal government looks like now:
Washington Times | Holding the line on spending
Shortly after returning from August recess, Congress will consider a continuing resolution that will fund the federal government past Sept. 30.
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