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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

General Economics

News                                                                                                                             
FOX News | If other countries sneeze, will US catch a cold? An expert's case for US recession next year
Employers in the U.S. are creating jobs at the fastest pace since the late 1990s and the economy finally looks ready to expand at a healthy rate. But sluggish growth in France, Italy, Russia, Brazil and China suggests that the old truism, "When the U.S. sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold," may need to be flipped.
Bloomberg | Oil Sands Gushing Jobs Mark Divide in Canadian Economy
The oil- and gas-rich western province was responsible for all of the country’s net employment growth over the past 12 months, adding 81,800 jobs while the rest of Canada lost 9,500. Alberta’s trade surplus, C$7.4 billion ($6.9 billion) in May, almost matched the deficit rung up everywhere else.

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
Real Clear Markets | Beware All the Retirement 'Crisis' Reports
If the amount of press ink used to report a study is any indicator of its contribution to public understanding, the National Institute on Retirement Security's (NIRS) 2013 report, "The Retirement Savings Crisis: Is It Worse than We Think?" might be the gold standard on the subject of retirement security.
Washington Times | Costco and the perils of mixing politics and business
When I was a small child, one of the most dramatic and effective business boycotts in the history of America occurred. This, of course, was the Montgomery bus boycott. By refusing to ride the bus, blacks who were being discriminated against were able to terminate many discriminatory practices not only in Alabama, but throughout the South. The white-owned businesses were clearly being unfair, and the public transportation system was no better. The actions taken were most appropriate and, in many cases, quite heroic.
Investors | Obama Recovery Turns 5: Are You Better Off?
In a speech last week in Delaware, President Obama was positively bursting with pride about what his policies have produced since the economic recovery started five years ago.
Market Watch | Great Crash of 2016, third $10 trillion loss this century
Sometime after the Great Crash of 2016, Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen will be testifying before Congress, just like Alan Greenspan was forced to do in 2008. She will be explaining why America has already had three megacrashes in the 21st Century, each draining roughly $10 trillion, each a direct result of Federal Reserve policy failures. She will be forced to explain why the Great Crash of 2016 was a clone of the bank credit crash of 2008 and the 2000 excesses.
Daily Signal | Is America Still a Land of Opportunity?
Cultural and economic factors are constantly shaping the opportunities open to Americans. Tracking those factors—and focusing policy and civil society attention on them—is the mission of a new publication from The Heritage Foundation’s Institute for Family, Community and Opportunity.

Health Care

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
WSJ | Reining in ObamaCare—and the President
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit—a tribunal second only to the Supreme Court—ruled on Tuesday that the Obama administration broke the law. The panel found that President Obama spent billions of taxpayer dollars he had no authority to spend, and subjected millions of employers and individuals to taxes he had no authority to impose.
Washington Times | Obamacare in intensive care
Obamacare was moved Tuesday to intensive care. Two federal appellate courts split over whether the administration can bypass Congress and rewrite the Obamacare law as it wishes Congress had written it. Such a split on a high-profile case can be resolved only by the Supreme Court.
FOX Business | Federal Court Throws Out Subsidies: What Happens Now?
Nine in ten people who enrolled in insurance plans during the law first open enrollment period received subsidies to lower the cost of care, paying an average $69 for out-of pocket for premiums, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Subsidies area available for those making up to 400% of the federal poverty level in 2014, which was about $94,000 for a family of four and $45,000 for individuals.  More than five million people enrolled on the federal exchange.

Monetary

News                                                                                                                             
Bloomberg | Jobs Hold Sway Over Yellen and Carney as Central Banks Splinter 
That’s the signal from policy makers worldwide, as even those whose mandates focus on inflation put the health of labor markets at the heart of their decision making. The approach leaves investors bracing for global monetary policies to diverge after the post-crisis embrace of easy money.

Blogs                                                                                                                             
WSJ | Fed Worries About Effects of Its New Interest Rate Tool on Markets
When the Federal Reserve started tests late last year of its so-called reverse repo facility, some officials hoped it would play a starring role in the campaign to raise interest rates when the time comes.

Taxes

News                                                                                                                             
CNN Money | When U.S. companies dodge taxes, is it unpatriotic?
The rush is on for big U.S. companies to lower their tax bills. They do it by merging with foreign companies in countries with lower rates and officially moving their home base.

Employment

News                                                                                                                             
National Journal | Is It Time to Declare the Death of Emergency Unemployment Insurance?
Democrats in Congress and a handful of Republican senators have strived over the last seven months to renew emergency unemployment benefits for the millions of American workers who have been living without a job for more than six months. But this week, once again, House Republicans pulled the rug out from under them, leaving prospects for the program's continuation at an all-time low.
Washington Times | Obama, Biden overhaul job training programs
House Republicans may be suing President Obama for executive overreach, but for one day at least, members of the GOP joined the president at the White House Tuesday as the administration announced a sweeping overhaul of the federal government’s job-training programs.

Budget

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
CBO | The Economic Effects of the President’s 2015 Budget
Each year, after the President releases his budget request, CBO analyzes the proposals in that request. Using its own economic projections and estimating procedures, CBO projects what the federal budget would look like over the next 10 years if the President’s proposals were adopted. CBO usually provides that information in two reports: The first examines the proposals’ effects on the budget but generally does not incorporate their effects on the U.S. economy.
CBO | What Are Some Key Policy Choices Posed by the Prospect of Rising Federal Debt?
As discussed in yesterday’s blog post and in CBO’s The 2014 Long-Term Budget Outlook, if current laws remain generally unchanged, debt held by the public is projected to exceed its current percentage of GDP—74 percent—after 2020 and to continue rising on a path that would ultimately be unsustainable.