News
CNN Money | China becomes world's top gold buyer
China has raced past India to become the world's top gold consumer.
Market Watch | China reports say big reform details due next week
Various Chinese media reports out Friday raised expectations that the Communist Party would announce detailed, wide-ranging reforms in a paper due out next week.
Politico | Republicans more optimistic on farm bill
House Republicans were more upbeat Thursday on getting a farm bill done this year, with Speaker John Boehner raising the subject and Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas saying he and his Senate counterparts are “getting to a common point on the commodity title.”
Market Watch | New York manufacturing index turns negative
An index of manufacturing conditions in the New York area turned negative in November, a reading that suggests a recent upturn in the factory sector may be petering out.
CNN Money | Retired union workers facing 'unprecedented' pension cuts
Hundreds of thousands of retired union workers are facing pension cuts that could slash their monthly payments in half — or even more.
Bloomberg | Factory Output in U.S. Rose More Than Forecast in October
Factory production in the U.S. rose more than forecast in October, indicating the partial government shutdown did little to halt the pickup in manufacturing at the start of the fourth quarter.
CNBC | How this economic recovery is different
The most surprising thing about the continuing lackluster recovery is that people are surprised about the continuing lackluster recovery. In a consumer-based economy, if incomes are not growing, the economy has little chance to expand robustly. As long as unemployment rates remain high, wage gains will be limited and so will economic growth.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | When the Obama Magic Died
The current troubles of the Obama presidency can be read back into its beginnings. Rule by personal charisma has met its proper fate. The spell has been broken, and the magician stands exposed. We need no pollsters to tell us of the loss of faith in Mr. Obama's policies—and, more significantly, in the man himself.
Real Clear Markets | Bad Science Could Kill Global Trade Talks
Has irresponsibility gone intercontinental? The U.S. government is rightly viewed with global dismay for its broken budget process. As U.S. and European Union trade negotiators continue their talks on a transatlantic free trade pact, Europe is taking actions that could make conclusion of this critical agreement all but impossible.
Blogs
Economist | Call this a recovery?
The euro area grew again in the third quarter, but only just. Figures released today by Eurostat show that euro-wide GDP expanded by a mere 0.1%, less than the already pessimistic 0.2% that had been expected in the markets.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Health Care
News
Politico | The Obamacare fumble
It’s the cardinal rule of marketing management: Under-promise and over-deliver. If the sign at “Pirates of the Caribbean” says the wait is 45 minutes, and your kids are floating along on the ride in half that time, Disneyland really is the Happiest Place on Earth.
CNN Money | 3 hurdles Obamacare fix must overcome
President Obama now says that it's okay with him for people to keep their individual health insurance plans for another year. But he doesn't have the power to renew their policies.
Bloomberg | Obamacare Deductibles 26% Higher Make Cheap Rates a Risk
Americans seeking cheap insurance on the Obamacare health exchanges may be in for sticker shock if they get sick next year, as consumers trade lower premiums for out-of-pocket costs that can top $6,000 a person.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | ObamaCare Disaster Recovery
Congress right now has a historic chance—really, it could wind up in the history books next to the stopping of FDR's court-packing scheme in 1937—to hold back ObamaCare. Congress can delay it, or pass a law mandating or allowing insurance companies to continue insuring everyone they just threw off coverage. Heck, they could try to vote now, under new conditions and with the American people behind them, to repeal the whole thing.
Politico | The Obamacare fumble
It’s the cardinal rule of marketing management: Under-promise and over-deliver. If the sign at “Pirates of the Caribbean” says the wait is 45 minutes, and your kids are floating along on the ride in half that time, Disneyland really is the Happiest Place on Earth.
CNN Money | 3 hurdles Obamacare fix must overcome
President Obama now says that it's okay with him for people to keep their individual health insurance plans for another year. But he doesn't have the power to renew their policies.
Bloomberg | Obamacare Deductibles 26% Higher Make Cheap Rates a Risk
Americans seeking cheap insurance on the Obamacare health exchanges may be in for sticker shock if they get sick next year, as consumers trade lower premiums for out-of-pocket costs that can top $6,000 a person.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | ObamaCare Disaster Recovery
Congress right now has a historic chance—really, it could wind up in the history books next to the stopping of FDR's court-packing scheme in 1937—to hold back ObamaCare. Congress can delay it, or pass a law mandating or allowing insurance companies to continue insuring everyone they just threw off coverage. Heck, they could try to vote now, under new conditions and with the American people behind them, to repeal the whole thing.
Monetary
News
Market Watch | U.S. import prices decline 0.7% in October
The prices paid for imported goods fell 0.7% in October, largely because of lower fuel prices, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a 0.4% drop.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | The Yellen Bulls
The world's stock investors are kicking off the Janet Yellen era with a party, responding to her Federal Reserve confirmation testimony on Thursday by running up equities from Tokyo to lower Manhattan. Gold is up and bond yields are down as the next Fed Chairman signaled that the era of extraordinary monetary intervention has a long time to run.
CATO | 100 Years Later, Was the Federal Reserve a Good Idea?
With the Fed in its centennial year, Janet Yellen facing confirmation hearings in the Senate, and questions swirling over whether the Fed will enact “tapering,” many monetary scholars are asking: Was the Fed a good idea?
Blogs
WSJ | Fed’s Plosser: Mild Deflation Not Necessarily a Bad Thing
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said Thursday he would like to see the central bank target a lower rate of inflation, adding he wouldn’t be too concerned if the economy entered a period of deflation.
Market Watch | U.S. import prices decline 0.7% in October
The prices paid for imported goods fell 0.7% in October, largely because of lower fuel prices, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a 0.4% drop.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | The Yellen Bulls
The world's stock investors are kicking off the Janet Yellen era with a party, responding to her Federal Reserve confirmation testimony on Thursday by running up equities from Tokyo to lower Manhattan. Gold is up and bond yields are down as the next Fed Chairman signaled that the era of extraordinary monetary intervention has a long time to run.
CATO | 100 Years Later, Was the Federal Reserve a Good Idea?
With the Fed in its centennial year, Janet Yellen facing confirmation hearings in the Senate, and questions swirling over whether the Fed will enact “tapering,” many monetary scholars are asking: Was the Fed a good idea?
Blogs
WSJ | Fed’s Plosser: Mild Deflation Not Necessarily a Bad Thing
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said Thursday he would like to see the central bank target a lower rate of inflation, adding he wouldn’t be too concerned if the economy entered a period of deflation.
Taxes
Econ Comments & Analysis
Forbes | Bill Gross Is On The Right Track, Let's Equalize Most Capital Gains Taxes
Recently Bill Gross, the head and founder of PIMCO, the manager of the world’s largest bond fund, made news by suggesting that capital gains taxes should be equalized with income taxes on wages and salaries. This is a worthy idea, and with a few tweaks to the suggested policy perhaps a lot of people on both sides of the aisle can support it.
Fortune | More Americans ditch their passports
Time to dump your American passport -- and with it, presumably, your bothersome U.S. tax bill. The reason, international tax lawyers say, may have less to do with offshore tax evasion and more with a new generation of sophisticated -- and legal -- tax planning.
Washington Times | The tipping point
Fifty-four million Americans pay not a penny to the IRS. That leaves 91 million shouldering the full weight of the supersized federal government. A Tax Foundation analysis notes that the number of freeloaders has been rising steadily since the 1980s. The freeloaders will soon make up the majority.
Heritage Foundation | America’s Austerity: It’s the Tax Increases
U.S. policymakers pursued deficit reduction (also called “fiscal consolidation” or “austerity”) twice in 2013. As economists have shown in dozens of papers, how a country goes about reducing deficits matters a lot in determining the economic impact of the deficit reduction.
Forbes | Bill Gross Is On The Right Track, Let's Equalize Most Capital Gains Taxes
Recently Bill Gross, the head and founder of PIMCO, the manager of the world’s largest bond fund, made news by suggesting that capital gains taxes should be equalized with income taxes on wages and salaries. This is a worthy idea, and with a few tweaks to the suggested policy perhaps a lot of people on both sides of the aisle can support it.
Fortune | More Americans ditch their passports
Time to dump your American passport -- and with it, presumably, your bothersome U.S. tax bill. The reason, international tax lawyers say, may have less to do with offshore tax evasion and more with a new generation of sophisticated -- and legal -- tax planning.
Washington Times | The tipping point
Fifty-four million Americans pay not a penny to the IRS. That leaves 91 million shouldering the full weight of the supersized federal government. A Tax Foundation analysis notes that the number of freeloaders has been rising steadily since the 1980s. The freeloaders will soon make up the majority.
Heritage Foundation | America’s Austerity: It’s the Tax Increases
U.S. policymakers pursued deficit reduction (also called “fiscal consolidation” or “austerity”) twice in 2013. As economists have shown in dozens of papers, how a country goes about reducing deficits matters a lot in determining the economic impact of the deficit reduction.
Employment
News
CNBC | Business backlash: Obamacare's part-time jobs problem
The Obamacare rollout has been defined by one thing — sticker shock. Yet, a dysfunctional website, lost coverage, and mass confusion may merely be the tip of the iceberg.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | How President Obama Is Killing Jobs
Five years on and President Obama still refuses to assume responsibility for his woeful economic record. The buck stops with Republicans, other countries, changes in the weather, etc.—anywhere but the Oval Office. Of course, it’s not new having a chief executive who refuses to admit failure. What is rare is having a news media that does not hold the President accountable.
Library of Economics | From the Vault: The Negative Effects of the Minimum Wage
But when the minimum wage law confronts the law of demand, the law of demand wins every time. And the real losers are the most marginal workers--the ones who will be out of a job.
CNBC | Business backlash: Obamacare's part-time jobs problem
The Obamacare rollout has been defined by one thing — sticker shock. Yet, a dysfunctional website, lost coverage, and mass confusion may merely be the tip of the iceberg.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | How President Obama Is Killing Jobs
Five years on and President Obama still refuses to assume responsibility for his woeful economic record. The buck stops with Republicans, other countries, changes in the weather, etc.—anywhere but the Oval Office. Of course, it’s not new having a chief executive who refuses to admit failure. What is rare is having a news media that does not hold the President accountable.
Library of Economics | From the Vault: The Negative Effects of the Minimum Wage
But when the minimum wage law confronts the law of demand, the law of demand wins every time. And the real losers are the most marginal workers--the ones who will be out of a job.
Budget
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | The cuts that didn’t bleed
Despite all of the handwringing here in Washington and President Obama’s hysterical warnings of fiscal and social upheaval, economic pain and deprivation, relatively few Americans said these spending cuts had an impact in their daily lives, according to surveys.
Washington Times | The cuts that didn’t bleed
Despite all of the handwringing here in Washington and President Obama’s hysterical warnings of fiscal and social upheaval, economic pain and deprivation, relatively few Americans said these spending cuts had an impact in their daily lives, according to surveys.
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