News
Bloomberg | Homebuilders Remained Confident in January on Rising U.S. Sales
Confidence among U.S. homebuilders held in January near its highest level in eight years, indicating the residential real-estate market will continue to contribute to economic growth in 2014.
Market Watch | Philly Fed manufacturing index improves in January
A reading of manufacturing sentiment in the Philadelphia area picked up in January, according to data released Thursday, becoming the second regional index to show solid growth at the beginning of the year.
CNN Money | Energy boom's impact on national security
Acknowledging that the boom is creating jobs and decreasing the need for oil imports, the boom could also lead to increasing instability in some U.S. allies, cause some African nations and Russia to strengthen ties with China, and provoke the Chinese and Russians to become more aggressive.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Forbes | Why So Many Poor Can't Improve Their Lot: We Need To Look At Unequal Distribution Of Economic Freedom
While the church and Christian moralists have always spoken about the rich and the poor, and condemned those who put wealth, or anything else, above eternal life, it was only in the 20th century when church authorities began to make frequent empirical statements about the number of rich and poor. Pope Francis is the latest example.
Market Watch | This is the year to sell your home
Patience seems to have paid off for those who’ve postponed putting their homes on the market until this year, real estate analysts say. They stand to pocket the kind of profits not seen since the housing boom.
WSJ | How Big Government Drives Inequality
Inequality is the wedge issue that Democrats hope will carry them through the 2014 and 2016 elections, neutralizing the ObamaCare fiasco. The issue has popular appeal because median incomes (after inflation) have been falling throughout the recovery, while high-end incomes are increasing rapidly.
Real Clear Markets | Three Ways We Can Improve the Economy In 2014
An improving economy and a fiscal truce together signal the possibility of making progress on at least some of the economic challenges facing the United States. Don't expect a grand bargain with entitlement changes to address the structural fiscal imbalance, or a pro-growth tax reform aimed at putting the U.S. economy back onto a permanently better trajectory.
Fortune | Brazil's economic trap
Brazil is in a bind. It has a wealth of natural resources and is among the most powerful industrial producers in the world, but the nation's economic growth hinges on skilled workers it doesn't have.
NBER | Waging War on Poverty: Historical Trends in Poverty Using the Supplemental Poverty Measure
Using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey and the March Current Population Survey, we calculate historical poverty estimates based on the new Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) from 1967 to 2012.
Blogs
WSJ | Where Are the U.S.’s Millionaires?
The state making the fastest climb up the millionaire rankings doesn’t have a single Tiffany or Saks Fifth Avenue store. The closest BMW dealership is a six-hour drive from the capital.
CATO | What to Look for in the Upcoming Trade Policy Debate
The most important piece of trade legislation Congress has dealt with in years was introduced in the House and Senate last week. The “Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities Act of 2014” sets out the parameters for renewing trade promotion authority (TPA), originally known as “fast track,” in order to ease eventual passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other agreements through Congress. There will be a lot of debate in the coming months about what U.S. trade policy should look like, and this TPA bill will do a lot to establish the agenda.
Heritage Foundation | Guess What Group is Getting Food Stamps at an Alarming Rate
Food stamp rolls have been growing rapidly. But what many may not realize is that participation among able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) has been skyrocketing compared to the total number of participants.
