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Thursday, October 31, 2013

General Economics

News                                                                                                                             
FOX News | Bankrupt solar panel firm took stimulus money, left a toxic mess, says report
A Colorado-based solar company that got hundreds of millions of dollars in federal loan guarantees before going belly-up didn't just empty taxpayers' wallets - it left behind a toxic mess of carcinogens, broken glass and contaminated water, according to a new report. 
FOX Business | Midwest Manufacuring Activity Hits March 2011 High
The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago’s  gauge of manufacturing activity surged in October to 65.9 from 55.7 in September, while economists expected activity to fall to 55. 
Bloomberg | Consumer Confidence in U.S. Declines to More Than One-Year Low
Consumer confidence eroded for a fifth straight week, reaching the lowest level in more than a year as pessimism about the economy chipped away at views of conditions closer to home.
CNN Money | Young and smart, but Millennials face homebuying hurdles
High debt levels and weak job prospects have made it hard for many young, educated Americans to buy homes, and that could be a drag on the housing market for years to come.
Bloomberg | U.S. Mortgage Rates at 4-Month Low Fall for Second Week
U.S. mortgage rates dropped for a second week, keeping borrowing costs at a four-month low as the Federal Reserve signaled that it would press on with its stimulus plan aimed at holding rates down.

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
Forbes | The Fossil Fuel Industry Must Vigorously Defend Itself Against Attacks From Environmentalists
Every day you concede the high ground to environmentalists not only means millions of dollars in projects delays, but another blow against the rights of peoples around the world to life, liberty, and the pursuit of energy.
WSJ | Progressive Government Fails
A reader remarked last week that Barack Obama is running out of human shields. With the father of ObamaCare unavailable to explain the greatest fiasco of his presidency to Congress, the American people had to settle Wednesday for his surrogate, Kathleen Sebelius.
WSJ | China's Illusory Growth Numbers
Beijing appears to be on track, yet again, to hit its official growth target. According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, gross domestic product rose 7.8% in the third quarter of 2013, well on its way toward hitting the official target of 7.5% GDP growth for the year.
Forbes | Death by Extortion: How Politicians and Crony Capitalists Are Destroying The American Dream
The explosive growth in government regulations impose huge costs on productive activities. The arbitrary way in which they are enforced causes more insidious damage.

Blogs                                                                                                                             
WSJ | Which Countries Invest the Most Money in the U.S.?
President Barack Obama and other officials are expected to announce Thursday that U.S. embassy staff, economic officials and even the White House will start closely coordinating their efforts to lure investment from key countries in order to boost sluggish job growth at home.
CATO | Keynesian Economics, Government Shutdowns, and Economic Growth
Keynesian economics is the perpetual motion machine of the left. You build a model that assumes government spending is good for the economy and you assume that there are zero costs when the government diverts money from the private sector.

Health Care

News                                                                                                                             
National Journal | Ron Johnson Introduces 'If You Like Your Health Care, You Can Keep It Act'
In response to the growing outcry over insurance-plan cancellations, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., introduced a bill Wednesday to allow consumers to keep their current plans under Obamacare.
Yahoo Finance | How Obama Overlooked 10 Million Americans Who Could Lose Health Insurance
We may now know what the most devastating statement of Barack Obama’s presidency is going to be: “If you like it, you can keep it.”

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
WSJ | The President's Broken Health-Care Promises
For nearly four years, President Obama has frequently offered some variation of this promise about the Affordable Care Act: "If you like your health-care plan," as he said in a speech to the American Medical Association in June 2009, "you'll be able to keep your health-care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what."
Real Clear Markets | Is Obamacare a Job Killer? Yes and No
Is the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, a job killer? Along with the fate of HealthCare.gov, this question stalks the ACA.
WSJ | You Can Keep Your Health Plan*
President Obama's promise had a secret footnote. Who knew?
WSJ | One Quick Fix to Ease the Coming Doctor Shortage
Ryan Scully wanted to be a doctor from the moment he began volunteering as a paramedic and firefighter during his freshman year of college. In medical school at George Washington University, he passed all of his preclinical and clinical requirements, as well as two national licensing exams required of all medical students.

Monetary

News                                                                                                                             
CNN Money | Federal Reserve prolongs stimulus
There's still no end in sight for the Federal Reserve's stimulus program -- known as quantitative easing -- after the central bank met this week and decided to continue buying $85 billion in bonds each month.
Bloomberg | Fed Sees Less Risk From Higher Rates While Maintaining QE
Federal Reserve policy makers signaled diminishing concern over higher borrowing costs as they maintained the pace of bond purchases and seek more evidence of sustained growth.
Bloomberg | Euro-Area Inflation Rate Falls to Four-Year Low
Euro-area inflation cooled to the slowest in almost four years in October, moving further away from the European Central Bank’s goal.

Blogs                                                                                                                             
WSJ | Three Takeaways on the Fed’s Policy Statement – December Taper Not Off the Table
The Federal Reserve emerged from its October meeting effectively in a wait-and-see mode on the economy and policy, making few substantive changes to its statement.

Taxes

News                                                                                                                             
CNN Money | U.S. expats cry foul over tax system
If you think filing your taxes is a pain, try talking to one of the 6 million Americans living abroad.

Employment

News                                                                                                                             
Market Watch | U.S. jobless claims drop 10,000 to 340,000
The number of people who applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week fell by 10,000 to 340,000, but initial claims are still above end-of-summer levels even though California says it has fixed computer problems that delayed thousands of claims over the past two months.

Budget

News                                                                                                                             
Politico | Obama administration touts new deficit numbers
Administration officials reported on Wednesday that the deficit has fallen to half of what it was when President Barack Obama took office — touting the numbers as congressional budget negotiations begin amid Republican criticism of Democrats’ stewardship of the government’s finances.
National Journal | Budget Conference: A Committee of Two?
It's supposed to be a committee of 29 separate voices from the House and Senate. But the early signals from the inaugural meeting of the bipartisan House and Senate budget conference are that it may operate more like a committee of two: Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Patty Murray.

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
Washington Times | The cruelty of not cutting
Democrats insist that every dollar in the $3.8 trillion annual budget is precious and well spent — all waste has been eliminated by sequestration. “The cupboard is bare,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said recently on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “There’s no more cuts to make. … We cannot have cuts just for the sake of cuts.” Republicans and the facts suggest otherwise.

Blogs                                                                                                                             
WSJ | Asia’s Rising Debt Brings Back Memories of 2007
With debt levels rising across Asia in an era of easy money, many observers have asked if the region is facing a repeat of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.