News
Bloomberg | New Home Sales in U.S. Unexpectedly Rise to Five-Year High
Purchases of new U.S. homes unexpectedly climbed in January to the highest level in more than five years, showing underlying strength in the industry even in the midst of unusually harsh weather.
CNBC | Mortgage applications at lowest level in two decades
Mortgage applications to buy a home fell last week to the lowest level in nearly two decades, according to a weekly survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Bloomberg | First Solar Profit Slumps as Power-Plant Revenue Declines
First Solar Inc. (FSLR), the largest U.S. solar-panel manufacturer, posted a 58 percent decline in profit as revenue slumped from the utility-scale power plants it’s building in the U.S. Southwest. Its shares fell the most in more than six months.
Washington Times | Obama eases penalties for businesses hiring illegal immigrants
The Obama administration regularly cuts a break for businesses that hire illegal immigrants, reducing their fines by an average of 40 percent from what they should be, according to an audit released Tuesday that suggests the government could be doing more to go after unscrupulous employers.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Politico | President Obama to urge $302 billion transportation bill
President Barack Obama on Wednesday will call for a four-year, $302 billion transportation bill to replace the law that expires at the end of September, while repeating his pitch for tax reform to fill some of that gap.
The American | GDP and Measuring the Intangible
GDP statistics lead us to take an overly pessimistic view of the economy. There is no Great Stagnation. There is only a widening gap between the rate of economic improvement and our ability to measure that improvement.
Washington Times | Obama kickstarts the ‘minimum wage economy’
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal came up with the perfect name for the Obama economy that you’ll be hearing a lot during this year’s midterm election campaigns.
AEI | Housing Risk Watch, February 2014
The January National Mortgage Risk Index (NMRI) for home purchase loans shows that low-risk loans accounted for only 42.2 percent of home mortgages extended in January 2014, down from 45.4 percent in December 2013 and 46.4 percent in August 2013 (the starting date for this series).
Blogs
WSJ | Don’t Get Excited by Jump in New Home Sales
New home sales jumped to the highest level since July 2008 in January, which is really good news if it holds. But the Census new-home sales data is a choppy indicator with a small sample size, and when you take a longer look at the series it’s pretty clear that the nation’s two-year-old real estate turnaround is still largely a recovery in prices.
WSJ | Are Trade Talks Going Anywhere?
Well, at least not anywhere fast. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said officials arrived with a “problem-solving mindset,” advanced the talks in several areas and now have some sort of understanding on rules for state-owned enterprises, investment in services industries, the telecommunications sector and food safety.
