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Tuesday, June 17, 2014

General Economics

News                                                                                                                             
CNN Money | More homeowners becoming landlords
Low mortgage rates and soaring rents have convinced a growing number of homeowners to hang onto their former homes and become landlords instead.
Bloomberg | Housing Starts in U.S. Beat 1 Million Pace for Second Month
Builders broke ground on 1 million U.S. homes in May, indicating the industry is picking up this quarter after a weather-induced slump to start the year.
FOX Business | Montana Company Named Small Business of the Year
On Thursday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce awarded landscape services firm Sanderson Stewart the 2014 DREAM Big Small Business of the Year award. The competition recognizes companies for their exceptional business practices and their community involvement.
CNN Money | U.S. economy: Not looking so good
At the start of the year, economists were optimistic. Perhaps the economy would grow 3% this year, they said, instead of the measly 2% pace it's been stuck at for the prior three years.
Bloomberg | We’re All Macroprudentialists Now as Bubble Policy Dawns
Thirty-five years ago this month, a U.K. central banker by the name of Peter Cooke was worrying about a surge in lending to developing countries.

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
Market Watch | Is the economy really picking up? Not likely
According to the conventional wisdom, the economy is set to bounce back from its winter-induced slump. It won’t be the first time that the pundits got it wrong.
Real Clear Markets | Regulations Are Strangling the Internet Economy
Recently, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles issued a cease-and-desist order against Uber and Lyft, ride services that are simply an app away. Regulators appear unsure how to handle these companies, along with other upstarts in the sharing economy, such as Airbnb, which finds rooms for travelers online.
WSJ | How Not to Help Black Americans
Douglass and Washington didn't play down the need for the government to secure equal rights for blacks, and both were optimistic that they would get equal rights eventually. But both men also understood the limits of government benevolence. Blacks would have to ready themselves to meet the far bigger challenge of being in a position to take advantage of opportunities, once equal rights had been secured. The history of 1960s liberal social policies is largely a history of ignoring this wisdom.
Washington Times | Reducing the risk of oil price spikes
You may have noticed gasoline prices are rising. If the Middle East situation gets much worse, gasoline prices will rise even more. The good news is that we are likely to avoid long gas lines as we had in the late 1970s under President Carter, because fracking and other new technologies have lessened our dependence on foreign oil and gas. The bad news is that a major rise in oil prices could easily tilt Europe and other places back into a recession, which could kill the little growth the United States is now experiencing.
Mercatus | How the Private Sector Can Improve Public Transportation Infrastructure
As growing demands on roads, bridges, and airports increase congestion and delays, policymakers are struggling to finance needed improvements to the nation’s infrastructure. The federal government’s longtime strategy of trying to build its way out of congestion is unlikely to be a financially sustainable means of addressing the problem. But what better options exist?
US News | Getting More Bang for the Regulatory Buck
The White House Office of Management and Budget recently published a draft report to Congress in which it estimated the overall benefits and costs of federal regulations. The OMB report cautioned about taking the estimates at face value, as it pointed out the numerous problems with them. 

Blogs                                                                                                                             
WSJ | Cold Weather Shrinks First-Quarter Retail Profits Despite Sales Gain
After-tax profits for U.S. retailers with more than $50 million in assets fell 11.5% in the first quarter, compared with a year earlier, even as sales grew 3.6%, a Commerce Department report said Monday.
WSJ | Did We Hit Our Innovation Peak in 1970?
Has the wave of innovation that transformed the world over the past century fizzled out? Some people think so—although how innovation is measured can be very subjective, if not downright idiosyncratic.