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Friday, January 30, 2015

General Economics

News                                                                                                                             
Wall Street Journal | U.S. Economic Growth Slows to 2.6% in Final Months of 2014
U.S. economic growth retreated to a modest pace in the final months of 2014, underscoring obstacles facing the recovery as troubles mount abroad.

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
Real Clear Markets | Markets React to 1930s Style Errors
For more than half a decade now, the mighty economic hopes of all of Europe have been almost totally dependent on Germany (the UK to a lesser extent). When the continent fell into recession in 2012, it was relatively mild in blended terms because Germany only slowed. That meant the ECB could focus its massive intrusions on the "periphery", the PIIGS mostly, aiming squarely at its very own banks to somehow force them to stop paying attention to national boundaries.
Wall Street Journal | China Trumps U.S. for Foreign Investment
China became the world’s top destination for foreign direct investment in 2014, edging the U.S. out of that position for the first time since 2003, according to figures released Thursday by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Blogs                                                                                                                             
Wall Street Journal | At a Glance: U.S. Fourth-Quarter GDP
U.S. gross domestic product advanced 2.6% at an annual rate in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Health Care

News                                                                                                                             
Wall Street Journal | Obama to Lay Out $215 Million Precision-Medicine Plan
President Obama is expected to detail on Friday an ambitious scientific effort to amass genetic data on one million or more Americans, with an eye toward unearthing disease causes and speeding drug discovery.
Wall Street Journal | Republicans to Block Legislative Fix to Health-Care Law
Congressional Republicans say they won’t move to preserve consumers’ health insurance tax credits if the Supreme Court strikes them down, raising the stakes in the latest legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act.

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
Forbes | Why Is Obamacare Such A Mess? There Was No Adult In The Room When It Passed
During the last election, I don’t believe there was a single Democratic television ad in any contested race that bragged about president Obama’s singular achievement: The Affordable Care Act – AKA Obamacare. The public doesn’t like it. The politicians who passed it aren’t defending it. So why do we have it?
Wall Street Journal | Failing Up in ObamaCare
So what does it take to ruin your reputation around Washington these days? The question comes to mind after learning that one of the capitol’s most corrupt bureaucracies has decided to hire one of its most incompetent contractors—and the answer explains a lot about accountability in government.

Taxes

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
Wall Street Journal | The Tax-Cutting Boon Sweeping the States
While the prospects for tax reform in Washington are dim, as many as 20 Republican governors are moving forward with their own pro-growth tax-relief initiatives. This is on top of the 14 states, including Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, whose 2014 tax cuts will take effect this year.

Employment

News                                                                                                                             
Wall Street Journal | U.S. Labor Costs Only Inch Up in 4th Quarter
U.S. labor costs rose at a measured pace in the final three months of the year, a sign that a tightening labor market is only slowly driving up wages for most American workers.

Budget

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
Wells Fargo | Five Key Issues to Watch in the 114th Congress
As the 114th Congress ramps up over the coming weeks, we wanted to take a moment to point out five of the key policy issues that we will be watching in the 114th Congress.