News
WSJ | U.S. Industrial Production Hits Prerecession Peak
U.S. industrial output in November surpassed its prerecession peak for the first time, the latest sign of momentum for the economic recovery.
NY Times | Big Bonuses, but a Shift in Who Gets the Biggest
Wall Street’s senior executives have been holed up in conference rooms across Manhattan the last couple of weeks, locked in tense all-day sessions. The special project: dividing up this year’s spoils as bonus season approaches.
Barrons | Some Good and Bad Lessons from 2013
The basics of sound investing shouldn't change from one year, or market cycle, to the next. But recent results often have a way of influencing how we think about such a timeless topic.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | The deniers of economic reality
Only 12 percent of likely U.S. voters favor a federal budget that increases government spending, but that’s just what the bipartisan budget deal passed by the House late [last] week does. It restores billions cut by the sequester on March 30 and puts off potential savings for several years.” This quotation does not come from some conservative blogger, but from the respected polling company, Rasmussen, in its report of Dec. 14.
WSJ | How Britain Returned to Growth
As the U.S. and Britain recover from the Great Recession, the question being asked of advanced economies like ours is this: Do we now face secular stagnation and long-term decline, so that it simply won't be possible to promise the next generation better lives than our own?
Washington Times | Fairness Doctrine 2.0
Fairness, like beauty, lies in the eye of the beholder, but some of President Obama’s men are eager to tell everyone who’s pretty and who’s not. There’s a buzz inside the Federal Communications Commission to deputize the government once more as the news cop, commissioning bureaucrats to decide what’s fair and what isn’t. We don’t need a rocket scientist or even a shade-tree mechanic to see where that leads.
WSJ | Washington's Worst Mistake of 2014?
Some consequences of government action remain largely unforeseen until a moment of crisis. That will not be the case if Washington regulators forge ahead on a misguided attempt to treat every large financial firm like a bank.
The Nation | Who’s Really Waging the Class War?
There’s little support among the wealthiest Americans for policy reforms to reduce income inequality.
NBER | Accounting for Income Changes over the Great Recession (2007-2010) Relative to Previous Recessions: The Importance of Taxes and Transfers
With data from the March CPS and using shift-share analysis, we analyze the factors that account for changes in post-tax post-transfer income during each of the past four recessions.
Heritage Foundation | GSE Reform: FHFA Should Not Pursue Mortgage Principal Reduction Alternatives
Until Congress finally resolves the important reform issues surrounding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and government guarantees in the U.S. housing market, the FHFA should not begin any new mortgage modification programs, specifically any PRA programs.
AEI | INFOGRAPHIC: Who's looking out for homebuyers?
Bad habits are hard to break. As America climbs out of recession fueled by the 2007 housing market collapse, government-sponsored agencies are up to their old tricks, lending out billions of dollars for risky home mortgage loans.
Blogs
WSJ | Key Inflation Measures Still Weak as Fed Meets
Both of the government’s consumer inflation measures are trending well below the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, complicating the central bank’s decision on whether to curtail its easy-money policies this week.
CATO | Lessons from Dutch Welfare Reform
Welfare advocates regularly urge Americans to look to the European welfare state as a model. At least in the case of the Netherlands, they might be on to something.
WSJ | Watchdog: More Payout Options Needed for 401(k) Plans
A new government watchdog report encourages federal regulators to expand payout options for people who save for retirement through 401(k) plans. That could benefit people who are pondering how to live off – and not beyond – their savings.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Health Care
News
Bloomberg | Next Obamacare Worry Is Getting Enrollees to Pay Premium
Aetna Inc. (AET), the third-biggest U.S. health insurer, has seen Obamacare enrollments increase since the federal government declared its troubled website fixed last week. Now, the concern is getting people to pay their premiums.
Bloomberg | Next Obamacare Worry Is Getting Enrollees to Pay Premium
Aetna Inc. (AET), the third-biggest U.S. health insurer, has seen Obamacare enrollments increase since the federal government declared its troubled website fixed last week. Now, the concern is getting people to pay their premiums.
Monetary
News
Bloomberg | Fed’s $4 Trillion in Assets Draw Lawmakers’ Scrutiny
The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet is poised to exceed $4 trillion, prompting warnings its record easing is inflating asset-price bubbles and drawing renewed lawmaker scrutiny just as Janet Yellen prepares to take charge.
Bloomberg | Consumer Prices Steady in U.S. as Fed Weighs QE Taper: Economy
The U.S. cost of living was unchanged in November, showing it will take time for inflation to approach the level desired by Federal Reserve officials, who begin their policy meeting today.
Bloomberg | U.S. Banks Hit New Stress-Test Hurdle as Fed, Firm Data at Odds
U.S. banks seeking regulatory approval to boost payouts to shareholders next year will face a new hurdle as the Federal Reserve begins making its own projections for lenders’ balance sheets in annual stress tests.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Fortune | Why a Fed taper will be good for the economy
The US Federal Reserve is one of the most powerful bodies on the planet today, able to shake global markets with the force of a single word: Taper. Analysts shudder, investors wail, bond yields spike, and stocks collapse whenever the mere possibility of a taper arises. And yet, the fear that the world will end if the Fed ratchets down its $85 billion-a-month bond buying program is mostly unfounded.
Blogs
WSJ | Vital Signs: Where Inflation Calls Home
Inflation news continues to be no news. Total consumer prices are up just 1.2% in the year ended in November, while core prices that exclude food and energy are up 1.7%. Both rates are below the 2% target set by the Federal Reserve.
WSJ | Key Inflation Measures Still Weak as Fed Meets
Both of the government’s consumer inflation measures are trending well below the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, complicating the central bank’s decision on whether to curtail its easy-money policies this week.
Bloomberg | Fed’s $4 Trillion in Assets Draw Lawmakers’ Scrutiny
The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet is poised to exceed $4 trillion, prompting warnings its record easing is inflating asset-price bubbles and drawing renewed lawmaker scrutiny just as Janet Yellen prepares to take charge.
Bloomberg | Consumer Prices Steady in U.S. as Fed Weighs QE Taper: Economy
The U.S. cost of living was unchanged in November, showing it will take time for inflation to approach the level desired by Federal Reserve officials, who begin their policy meeting today.
Bloomberg | U.S. Banks Hit New Stress-Test Hurdle as Fed, Firm Data at Odds
U.S. banks seeking regulatory approval to boost payouts to shareholders next year will face a new hurdle as the Federal Reserve begins making its own projections for lenders’ balance sheets in annual stress tests.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Fortune | Why a Fed taper will be good for the economy
The US Federal Reserve is one of the most powerful bodies on the planet today, able to shake global markets with the force of a single word: Taper. Analysts shudder, investors wail, bond yields spike, and stocks collapse whenever the mere possibility of a taper arises. And yet, the fear that the world will end if the Fed ratchets down its $85 billion-a-month bond buying program is mostly unfounded.
Blogs
WSJ | Vital Signs: Where Inflation Calls Home
Inflation news continues to be no news. Total consumer prices are up just 1.2% in the year ended in November, while core prices that exclude food and energy are up 1.7%. Both rates are below the 2% target set by the Federal Reserve.
WSJ | Key Inflation Measures Still Weak as Fed Meets
Both of the government’s consumer inflation measures are trending well below the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, complicating the central bank’s decision on whether to curtail its easy-money policies this week.
Taxes
News
WSJ | Government Tax Revenues Are Recovering, Says OECD
Government tax revenues are rebounding from the declines seen in the aftermath of the financial crisis, reflecting a combination of recovering incomes and increased tax rates, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Tuesday.
WSJ | Government Tax Revenues Are Recovering, Says OECD
Government tax revenues are rebounding from the declines seen in the aftermath of the financial crisis, reflecting a combination of recovering incomes and increased tax rates, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Tuesday.
Employment
News
USA Today | Self-employed face a retirement crisis
TD Ameritrade's Self-Employment and Retirement Survey found that 40% of the self-employed are not saving regularly for retirement, and 28% are not saving at all. The problem plagued all age groups: 29% of Generation X and 32% of Generation Y who were self-employed are not saving for retirement.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Mercatus | Labor Force Participation Rate Continues to Sink
The four and a half years since the Great Recession of 2008 could be called “the Dismal Recovery.” The most widely cited sign of progress toward a healthy economy has been the declining unemployment rate; however, the fall in the unemployment rate has largely been due to a shrinking labor-force participation rate rather than strong job growth.
USA Today | Self-employed face a retirement crisis
TD Ameritrade's Self-Employment and Retirement Survey found that 40% of the self-employed are not saving regularly for retirement, and 28% are not saving at all. The problem plagued all age groups: 29% of Generation X and 32% of Generation Y who were self-employed are not saving for retirement.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Mercatus | Labor Force Participation Rate Continues to Sink
The four and a half years since the Great Recession of 2008 could be called “the Dismal Recovery.” The most widely cited sign of progress toward a healthy economy has been the declining unemployment rate; however, the fall in the unemployment rate has largely been due to a shrinking labor-force participation rate rather than strong job growth.
Budget
News
National Journal | Are We Sequestering Ourselves to Death?
Congress's year-end budget deal would blunt spending cuts scheduled to hit the federal government's premier medical research board, but that's cold comfort to advocates who insist the sequester spending cuts are already putting the public in peril.
Bloomberg | Budget Deal Easing $63 Billion in Cuts Advances in Senate
The Senate advanced a budget deal that would ease $63 billion in spending cuts for a vote as soon as tomorrow, setting the stage for President Barack Obama to sign the bipartisan measure into law.
National Journal | The Budget Deal That Stole Christmas
While much of Capitol Hill is getting ready for the holiday break, those who work on the Appropriations committees have a different vision for the days ahead—and it ain’t sugar plums.
Market Watch | U.S. current-account gap falls to $94.8 billion
The U.S. current account deficit narrowed to $94.8 billion in the third quarter, marking the lowest level since the fall of 2009, the government said Tuesday.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | The Debt Ceiling Doesn't Limit Debt
The budget deal announced last week authorizes federal spending for the current fiscal year that will exceed general tax revenues available to pay for it by almost 40%. Congress has raised the debt ceiling to cover all spending through Feb. 7, after which it will consider raising it again.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Spending Caps Have Worked, but Ryan-Murray Budget Would Lift Them
In terms of cutting government spending, the Budget Control Act’s spending caps and sequestration have been an unparalleled success story in recent years. And yet, the House of Representatives voted last Thursday to weaken the caps in 2014 and 2015 for a $63 billion increase in the discretionary budget.
National Journal | Are We Sequestering Ourselves to Death?
Congress's year-end budget deal would blunt spending cuts scheduled to hit the federal government's premier medical research board, but that's cold comfort to advocates who insist the sequester spending cuts are already putting the public in peril.
Bloomberg | Budget Deal Easing $63 Billion in Cuts Advances in Senate
The Senate advanced a budget deal that would ease $63 billion in spending cuts for a vote as soon as tomorrow, setting the stage for President Barack Obama to sign the bipartisan measure into law.
National Journal | The Budget Deal That Stole Christmas
While much of Capitol Hill is getting ready for the holiday break, those who work on the Appropriations committees have a different vision for the days ahead—and it ain’t sugar plums.
Market Watch | U.S. current-account gap falls to $94.8 billion
The U.S. current account deficit narrowed to $94.8 billion in the third quarter, marking the lowest level since the fall of 2009, the government said Tuesday.
Econ Comments & Analysis
WSJ | The Debt Ceiling Doesn't Limit Debt
The budget deal announced last week authorizes federal spending for the current fiscal year that will exceed general tax revenues available to pay for it by almost 40%. Congress has raised the debt ceiling to cover all spending through Feb. 7, after which it will consider raising it again.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Spending Caps Have Worked, but Ryan-Murray Budget Would Lift Them
In terms of cutting government spending, the Budget Control Act’s spending caps and sequestration have been an unparalleled success story in recent years. And yet, the House of Representatives voted last Thursday to weaken the caps in 2014 and 2015 for a $63 billion increase in the discretionary budget.
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