News
Politico | Obama to order tougher fuel standards for heavy trucks
President Barack Obama on Tuesday will order his agencies to tighten the fuel-efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, the latest stage in his effort to tackle climate change without waiting for Congress to act.
Politico | 5 years in, Obama salutes stimulus
The costly $787 billion spending bill that President Barack Obama signed into law soon after taking office boosted the economy and helped avoid another Great Depression, the White House said in a status report on Monday’s fifth anniversary of the law’s enactment.
CNN Money | Food stamp use among military rises again
More military families used food stamps to buy milk, cheese, meat and bread at military grocers last year.
Market Watch | Empire State index slips to 4.5 in February
Manufacturing activity in the New York region slipped in February after hitting its highest reading since May 2012 in January, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Tuesday.
WSJ | Remedial College Courses Face a New Test
A new state law here is trying a novel approach to determine whether incoming students are prepared to move on to college-level coursework: let them decide for themselves.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Real Clear Markets | Oil Is Where the Growth Is, So Let's Drill
The economy is stumbling along at 2 percent annual GDP growth and employment growth continues to disappoint. One bright spot is energy, which is booming despite government obstacles. With more efficient regulation America could increase energy production, and next week Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) will release a bill to do just that.
WSJ | The Truth About the 'One Percent'
'Income inequality" has emerged as the issue du jour in national politics, threatening to displace the unpopular health-care law and the slow-growing economy this election year. Speeches and columns now routinely attack the banks or "the undeserving rich" and call on Washington to do something to redistribute income from the "super rich" to the poor and middle class.
Washington Times | Being taxed for bad advice by international organizations
If you became aware that the advice you were receiving from your economic advisers was causing you to get poorer rather than richer, how long would you keep them?
WSJ | Obama's Shale Gas Trojan Horse
On Jan. 28, the White House website posted a fact sheet accompanying the State of the Union address, "Opportunity for All: Key Executive Actions the President Will Take in 2014." Mr. Obama called for Congress to join with him and with state and local governments to create "Sustainable Shale Gas Growth Zones." The goal is to "make sure shale gas is developed in a safe, responsible way that helps build diverse and resilient regional economies that can withstand boom-and-bust cycles and can be leaders in building and deploying clean energy technologies."
Washington Times | The unhappy anniversary of stimulus boondoggle
Five years ago this week, President Obama jump-started the economy, leading to the greatest period of sustained growth in history. No, we haven’t seen it, either, but that was what he said would happen when he signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. A trillion dollars later, we’re no better off.
Mercatus | Companies Subsidizing Consumption Is Good for the Market, Innovation, and Users
The practice of one party subsidizing a customer’s consumption is common in many industries. Particularly for media, information, and publishing, companies — a business model that represents or touches every major tech company these days.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | How to Free the Housing Market from Government—and Lower Your Mortgage Payments
That sounds magnificent, and we couldn’t agree more. No one wants another housing crisis, and taxpayers certainly shouldn’t be on the hook for it.
Library of Economics | In the 1930s it seemed "obvious" that financial turmoil had caused the Great Depression
Perhaps some day economists will realize that the models they were teaching their students in 2007 imply that the world's central banks caused the Great Recession.
