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Wednesday, October 9, 2013

General Economics

News                                                                                                                             
FOX Business | Men’s Wearhouse Rejects $2.3B Bid from Jos. A. Bank
Men’s Wearhouse rejected an unsolicited offer from smaller rival Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, saying the $2.3 billion proposal to create a men’s apparel giant undervalues the company.
Bloomberg | Carbon Markets 94% Cheaper Than Renewable Support, OECD Says
Carbon markets are about 94 percent cheaper at cutting greenhouse gases than renewable subsidies paid to power producers, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
CNBC | Reluctantly, market faces a real default threat
Wall Street experts, who only a few days ago dismissed a debt default as a near-impossibility, are now having to come to grips with a worst-case scenario that no longer seems so far-fetched.

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
Bloomberg | Recession Looms If Treasury Uses Tools to Prevent a Default
The U.S. Treasury has the means to avoid a debt default even if Congress fails to raise the government’s $16.7 trillion borrowing limit. The bad news is that it can’t prevent a recession.
Market Watch | The market is starting to panic
For weeks, investors and traders have been remarkably complacent. In the lead up and immediate aftermath of the first government shutdown in 17 years, the sellers were held at bay by the idea at compromise deal would surely happen. Anytime now.
Market Watch | Fed's Evans: 'Great pause' from current economy
Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said Wednesday that U.S. economic growth has been disappointing this year and the current situation gives him "great pause."

Blogs                                                                                                                             
WSJ | U.S. Refiners Export More Fuel Than Ever
U.S. refiners are selling more fuel abroad than ever before, effectively exporting the American energy boom to the four corners of the world.

Health Care

News                                                                                                                             
National Journal | Narrow-Network Health Plans Expected to Proliferate Under Obamacare
The health care industry has revived a variation on a widely derided product and proclaimed it a fresh, urgently needed innovation.
FOX Business | ObamaCare’s Mystery Number: Just How Many People Signed Up?
As the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance open enrollment period hits its one- week mark, the Obama Administration is remaining tight-lipped on just how many Americans signed up for coverage on state and federally-run exchanges.
CNN Money | Can I just sign up for Obamacare once I'm sick?
There are many assumptions about what the effects of Obamacare will be. This series aims to separate myths from realities and answer questions surrounding the Affordable Care Act.

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
WSJ | Obamacaid
ObamaCare's website appears to have been built by Mitt Romney's "Project Orca" digital team, and perhaps tens of people have managed to sign up so far. "Fully enrolled, I can't tell you. I don't know," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius conceded Monday. But Democrats do have one lament about implementation: Some states are opting out of the Medicaid expansion.
Real Clear Markets | Obamacare's Financial Unraveling: Predictable, and Predicted
Advocates marketed the Affordable Care Act (ACA), known colloquially as "Obamacare," to the American public as a way to "bend the cost curve" of soaring health care costs downward. But despite its supporters' hopes, the 2010 legislation was fiscally reckless, markedly increasing the government's already-unsustainable health spending commitments at a time of record deficits.
CATO | Obamacare’s Real Glitch
Opponents of Obamacare could perhaps be forgiven a bit of schadenfreude over the massive computer problems that accompanied the launch of the exchanges last week. Certainly, the system’s problems bore out the critics’ warnings that the program was far from ready.

Blogs                                                                                                                             
WSJ | Compare Health-Insurance Premiums in 34 States
New health-insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act went live on Oct. 1, and many people are wondering what they might pay for available plans.

Monetary

News                                                                                                                             
CNN Money | 3 reasons why Fed may not taper until 2014
When it comes to the government shutdown and possibility of a debt default, the Federal Reserve can't save the day -- but that may not stop it from trying to soften the blow to the U.S. economy.
Bloomberg | Yellen to Be Named Fed Chairman, First Female Chief
President Barack Obama will nominate Janet Yellen as chairman of the Federal Reserve, which would put the world’s most powerful central bank in the hands of a key architect of its unprecedented stimulus program and the first female leader in its 100-year history.
Reuters | Dollar in the doldrums as Washington woes drag on
The U.S. dollar languished near a two-month low against the yen in Asia on Wednesday and stayed close to a recent eight-month trough on a currency basket with investors growing anxious as the U.S. budget impasse dragged on.

Taxes

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
WSJ | Estate Plans Shift Focus to Income Taxes
The new tax rules for 2013 are turning estate planning on its head: Instead of an emphasis on avoiding the estate tax, many plans now have a focus on trimming income taxes.

Employment

Blogs                                                                                                                             
WSJ | Students: Closing the Skills Gap Has to Begin With You
The first is to recognize that this problem of employers not finding graduates with the right skills is more likely to solve itself from the bottom up rather than yielding to new demands from the top. The college choices of millions of students are going to be affected by the availability of new information about which degrees and institutions are most successful in preparing graduates for employment.

Budget

News                                                                                                                             
Bloomberg | U.S. Default Poses Low Risk to Money Funds, Fitch Says
The risk to money-market mutual funds from a short-term default in U.S. Treasuries is low, barring a rush by investors to sell the funds, Fitch Ratings said today in a report.

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
Fortune | Why China won't sway the debt ceiling debate
As Congress drags its feet against a looming deadline to increase the nation's borrowing limit or risk default, China urged Washington this week to act quickly and ensure the safety of its U.S. investments.
WSJ | Puerto Rico's Debt Trap
A crisis, if nothing else, focuses minds and as the Washington showdown continues, minds are focusing on the possibility of a U.S. default on its debt obligations. So perhaps there's a lesson in the sad case of Puerto Rico and its debt mess.
Politico | Pat Toomey: ‘Zero chance’ of default
Sen. Pat Toomey said Wednesday that even if the debt ceiling is not raised before Oct. 17, the U.S. will not default on its debt, and the White House is using the threat of default to “cow” Republicans.
CNN Money | The folly of the debt ceiling
For a time, I worked internationally giving governments technical advice on their budgets. Imagine: An American giving advice to other countries on how to budget. No wonder they didn't pay any attention to me.
CRS | In Brief: CRS Resources on the FY2014 Funding Gap, Shutdown, and Status of Appropriations
When federal government agencies and programs lack budget authority, they experience a "funding gap." Under the Antideficiency Act (31 U.S.C. § 1341 et seq.), they must cease operations, except in certain circumstances. When there is a funding gap that affects many federal entities, the situation is often referred to as a government shutdown.