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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

General Economics

News                                                                                                                             
Market Watch | U.S. job openings hit highest level since 2001
Job openings in the U.S. rose 3.7% to 5.03 million in December - the highest since 2001 - and the number of people hired climbed 1.9% to 5.05 milllion.
Market Watch | Small-business sentiment slips in January, NFIB says
Small-business sentiment slipped in January on a decline in optimism over sales growth and business conditions, according to a gauge released Tuesday.

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
Reuters | Greek euro exit will be hard to stop
Alexis Tsipras kept his promises to the electorate. That’s the only thing that can be said in favour of the defiant speech the Greek prime minister gave parliament on Feb. 8. Almost everything else was terrible – because the pledges he made in the recent election campaign are undeliverable.
Market Watch | Americans are spending their gas savings on more gas
So, what are Americans doing with some of the money they’re saving from cheap gas? They are buying more fuel.
Investors.com | Studies Confirm Dodd-Frank Strangling Small Lenders
New studies of banking trends confirm earlier warnings that the Dodd-Frank Act would drive community banks out of the market and choke off credit.
Wall Street Journal | U.S. Government Bonds Fall Again
Treasury bond prices fell for a fifth straight session, sending the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to a one-month high on Monday, as looming new debt sales outweighed market turmoil in Greece and slowing growth in China.

Blogs                                                                                                                             
AEI | 2014 US-China trade by the numbers
The US ran a record $342 billion merchandise trade deficit with China in 2014. The deficit rose 7.6%, with a 6% increase in American imports and just a 1.7 % increase in American exports. Driving these figures are a comparatively strongerAmerican economy, and also Chinese trade barriers. Imports from China benefit American consumers but the poor performance of American exports is a warning sign.