News
Bloomberg | Foreclosed Sales at U.S. Auctions Double as Prices Gain
Purchases of foreclosed homes at auctions jumped last month as banks benefited from surging prices and shunned approvals of sales by homeowners dumping their dwellings at a loss.
CNN Money | 1 in 6 unemployed are substance abusers
About 1 in 6 unemployed workers are addicted to alcohol or drugs -- almost twice the rate for full-time workers, according to the government's National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Bloomberg | Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Rise Most Since February 2006
Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose by the most since February 2006 in the 12 months through September, showing the housing market sustained progress even as borrowing costs climbed.
FOX Business | Consumer Confidence Falls in November
U.S. consumer confidence fell in November as Americans worried about their future jobs and earnings prospects, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.
Bloomberg | Building Permits in U.S. Jump to Five-Year High
More applications for home construction were issued in October than at any time in the past five years, a sign the U.S. residential real-estate market is gaining momentum heading into 2014.
Blogs
Market Watch | Democrats lose 2014 edge after Obamacare uproar
A new CNN/ORC International poll spells trouble for congressional Democrats. A month ago, they held a 50%-42% advantage among registered voters in a generic ballot asking respondents to choose a Democrat or Republican for their district. The new poll, following the botched rollout of HealthCare.gov and controversy over canceled insurance policies, shows Republicans with a 49%-47% edge.
Economist | A Keynes for all seasons
In the years since the publication in 1936 of "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money", John Maynard Keynes’s name has been irretrievably linked to the idea that fiscal stimulus should be used to combat recession during downturns. Such ideas came to dominate economics in the 30 years after the second world war, so much so that Republican president Richard Nixon declared in 1971 that “we are all Keynesians now”.
WSJ | New Service-Sector Index Shows November Bounce Back
The private-service sector may make up more than half of U.S. gross domestic product, but it accounts for almost nothing as a share of economic data.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Health Care
News
National Journal | Hospitals Close in States That Opted Out of Medicaid Expansion
Obamacare cut hospital payments for uninsured patients, anticipating that more would be on Medicaid. Without either, hospitals are in dire straits.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | The real purpose of Obamacare
President Obama’s Affordable Care Act is practically dead. Meanwhile, the old system it was meant to replace is dead. Thus, Americans face a long and bitter struggle over what kind of health care system they will have.
Politico | It's not Obamacare, it's business
Insurance companies are ready to unleash an expensive PR blitz to get 7 million new customers once HealthCare.gov is fixed.
National Journal | Hospitals Close in States That Opted Out of Medicaid Expansion
Obamacare cut hospital payments for uninsured patients, anticipating that more would be on Medicaid. Without either, hospitals are in dire straits.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | The real purpose of Obamacare
President Obama’s Affordable Care Act is practically dead. Meanwhile, the old system it was meant to replace is dead. Thus, Americans face a long and bitter struggle over what kind of health care system they will have.
Politico | It's not Obamacare, it's business
Insurance companies are ready to unleash an expensive PR blitz to get 7 million new customers once HealthCare.gov is fixed.
Monetary
Econ Comments & Analysis
AEI | Our worst fears about Dodd-Frank's FSOC are being confirmed
The Dodd-Frank Act created significant regulatory uncertainty when it gave the Financial Stability Oversight Council the power to designate financial firms as systemically important financial institutions or SIFIs. If the Council finds that financial firms create “systemic risks” and threaten financial stability, it can assign a SIFI designation and require the firm to satisfy enhanced capital, leverage, liquidity, and supervision requirements similar to those Dodd-Frank prescribes for large banking institutions.
Blogs
Economist | Low rates forever
James Hamilton looks at some interesting new research (which derives an easy way to calculate implied forward interest rates) and finds that markets expect interest rate increases to come very gradually indeed—when, that is, the Fed finally begins raising rates.
AEI | Our worst fears about Dodd-Frank's FSOC are being confirmed
The Dodd-Frank Act created significant regulatory uncertainty when it gave the Financial Stability Oversight Council the power to designate financial firms as systemically important financial institutions or SIFIs. If the Council finds that financial firms create “systemic risks” and threaten financial stability, it can assign a SIFI designation and require the firm to satisfy enhanced capital, leverage, liquidity, and supervision requirements similar to those Dodd-Frank prescribes for large banking institutions.
Blogs
Economist | Low rates forever
James Hamilton looks at some interesting new research (which derives an easy way to calculate implied forward interest rates) and finds that markets expect interest rate increases to come very gradually indeed—when, that is, the Fed finally begins raising rates.
Taxes
News
WSJ | EU Launches Attack on Corporate Tax Avoidance
The European Union announced twin measures aimed at curbing tax avoidance by global corporations as criticism on the budget-strapped Continent mounted over the tax practices of companies such as Apple Inc. and Google Inc.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Real Clear Markets | Taxpayers Pay Dearly For Poorly Conceived GM Bailout
Federal Meddling: Remember the promise that taxpayers would get back every dollar taken from them and dumped into the General Motors bailout? The promise is coming up about $10 billion short.
WSJ | EU Launches Attack on Corporate Tax Avoidance
The European Union announced twin measures aimed at curbing tax avoidance by global corporations as criticism on the budget-strapped Continent mounted over the tax practices of companies such as Apple Inc. and Google Inc.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Real Clear Markets | Taxpayers Pay Dearly For Poorly Conceived GM Bailout
Federal Meddling: Remember the promise that taxpayers would get back every dollar taken from them and dumped into the General Motors bailout? The promise is coming up about $10 billion short.
Employment
News
CNBC | Poll: Unprecedented anxiety over jobs
In a dreary sign of economic doldrums, more than six in 10 workers worry that they will lose their jobs, according to a Washington Post-Miller Center poll. It was the highest level in more than a dozen surveys dating to the 1970s, the newspaper reported.
Blogs
Library of Economics | Rising Male Non-Employment: Supply, not Demand
Poor men are admittedly more likely than poor women to say they don't work because they can't find a job. Yet only 20% of men below the poverty line in 2012 said this.
CNBC | Poll: Unprecedented anxiety over jobs
In a dreary sign of economic doldrums, more than six in 10 workers worry that they will lose their jobs, according to a Washington Post-Miller Center poll. It was the highest level in more than a dozen surveys dating to the 1970s, the newspaper reported.
Blogs
Library of Economics | Rising Male Non-Employment: Supply, not Demand
Poor men are admittedly more likely than poor women to say they don't work because they can't find a job. Yet only 20% of men below the poverty line in 2012 said this.
Budget
News
National Journal | On Budget Conference Committee, Even Small Proposals Generate Arguments
Both Republicans and Democrats on the budget conference committee agree that if the panel reaches an agreement at all, it is likely to be a small one. And so far, they're not kidding.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Real Clear Markets | Why the Next Debt Limit Fight Could Convulse the Markets
Congress's latest flirtation with debt-limit default caused barely a ripple in the financial markets. Rates on short-term Treasuries spiked in early October, before quickly subsiding to more normal levels. The spread between one- and three-year Treasuries temporarily widened, but quickly fell back to a more normal trend. All told, financial markets barely blinked. Unfortunately, the next time may be worse. Here's why.
National Journal | On Budget Conference Committee, Even Small Proposals Generate Arguments
Both Republicans and Democrats on the budget conference committee agree that if the panel reaches an agreement at all, it is likely to be a small one. And so far, they're not kidding.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Real Clear Markets | Why the Next Debt Limit Fight Could Convulse the Markets
Congress's latest flirtation with debt-limit default caused barely a ripple in the financial markets. Rates on short-term Treasuries spiked in early October, before quickly subsiding to more normal levels. The spread between one- and three-year Treasuries temporarily widened, but quickly fell back to a more normal trend. All told, financial markets barely blinked. Unfortunately, the next time may be worse. Here's why.
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