7/16/10 Post

BUZZ: Law Remakes U.S. Financial Landscape

News
Double-dip fears outweigh robust earnings
Fears of a “double-dip” recession in the US returned to haunt the markets as a welter of negative economic releases overshadowed positive news on the earnings front and another encouraging eurozone sovereign debt auction.
Data Shows the Factory Sector Slipping and the Economic Recovery Slowing
New evidence of a slowing economic rebound emerged Thursday in reports that manufacturing activity was slowing after helping push the early stages of the recovery.
Impact to Reach Beyond Wall Street
Key Questions Unresolved for Businesses and Consumers Until Bill Goes Into Effect.
Financial Overhaul Signals Shift on Deregulation
That era of hands-off optimism was gaveled to an end on Thursday as the Senate gave final approval to a bill that reasserts the importance of federal supervision of financial transactions.
Economists Split on Finance Bill
Asked how much the legislation would do to prevent a repeat of the global financial crisis, a majority (58%) said the overhaul would reduce the risks "just slightly," and only 6% thought it would have a "significant" impact.
Fiscal panel co-chair supports lower corporate taxes and a VAT
Erskine Bowles, co-chair of President Obama’s fiscal commission, said Wednesday that while he wants most of the government’s budget deficits to be closed by cutting spending, he also thinks a value-added tax is called for.
Obesity Rating for Every American Must Be Included in Stimulus-Mandated Electronic Health Records, Says HHS
The obesity-rating regulation states that every American's electronic health record must: “Calculate body mass index. Automatically calculate and display body mass index (BMI) based on a patient’s height and weight.”
Google search: political power
Google’s aggressive tactics have put it on top of the business world, and now the Internet giant is looking to leverage the high profile and sterling connections of its CEO to achieve similar power in the political sphere.
Senate Appropriators Set Cap $14 Billion Below Obama’s Budget Request
Senate appropriators agreed Thursday to slice $14 billion from President Obama’s fiscal 2011 budget request, roughly double the cut proposed by House Democrats. But that was not enough to satisfy Republicans in a year of pitched battles over federal spending.
Senate close to extending jobless benefits.
The Senate plans to take up a measure Tuesday to restore the extended benefits, right after a new Democratic senator from West Virginia is sworn in.
Consumer prices dip for third straight month
The prices that U.S. consumers pay for goods and services fell slightly in June, mainly because of lower gasoline costs.
Virginia has a $220 million surplus
After facing a $1.8 billion shortfall just six months ago, Virginia closed its fiscal 2010 budget with a $220 million budget surplus. Virginia scaled back expenditures in several areas, including public education and state-employee compensation.
Is the U.S. battery business for real?
Projects dedicated to advanced batteries have received over $2 billion in federal funding as part of the administration's $800 billion-plus plan.
Greenspan: Let Bush tax cuts expire
Former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan believes Congress should let the tax cuts enacted by President George W. Bush expire for all Americans in order to address the widening deficit.
New Orleans takes another hit
First it was Hurricane Katrina and then it was the BP oil spill. Now the Louisiana coastal region faces a third economic crisis: Northrop Grumman Corp. will close the shipyard in Avondale, eliminating 5,000 jobs.
U.S. July consumer sentiment plummets
The UMich index fell to 66.5 in early July from 76 in late June as consumers have been worried about weak hiring and a slowly healing economy.

Blogs
New hires or new jobs?
I’m not saying Keynes (or Obama or Larry Summers) is wrong because all spending does is bid up prices and wages. I’m not trying to prove that the stimulus failed. I’m challenging the standard macro textbook story that says aggregate demand leads to output that leads to employment.
Median Duration of Unemployment
This recession looks very different, and much more troubling, than those in the recent past.
When Nudging Isn’t Enough
When a policy is enacted to achieve a specific goal and then fails to achieve it, further policies are justified on grounds of achieving the goal that “we” have already agreed upon. In Loewenstein and Ubel’s op-ed, I believe our prediction is vindicated.
Experts at work
Great. I’m sure we’ll all be paying as much attention to those new rules as they get made as the people whose livelihood is affected. A field day for the bootleggers, no doubt, done in the name of protecting consumers and creating financial stability.
Europe vs. U.S.: The Post-Recession Productivity Divide
Each region is now at a key inflection point when it comes to productivity and the recovery. The drop in euro zone productivity suggests hiring won’t take place on a large scale even as the region recovers, since firms can simply increase the hours worked of their existing work forces.
Financial Reform: A Brief Take
I worry about these highly sophisticated financial mechanisms that enjoy de facto government insurance. My concern is that insurance that is free, or very much under-priced, is going to foster a lot of economically unsound financial practices.
Just Lend And Be Done With It!
So Bernanke has no “macroeconomic knowledge problem.” He knows that we would all be better off if there were more lending because matters like credit allocation as well as restructuring of firms and economic activities after a period of misallocations are irrelevant to business cycles. Feed the Aggregate Demand God and all will be better.
Pension spike
More hard-to-believe info on the world of public employee compensation in California.
Secondary Sources: Curious Job Market, Long-Term Unemployed, Deficits
A roundup of economic news from around the Web.
Drowning in Debt
no matter what one's ideology is, it is odd that anyone would claim that the U.S. does have a spending problem; the co-chairmen of the deficit commission were just in the news for talking about how our country is broken.
Three Million Imaginary Jobs
The White House says the stimulus worked beyond even its hopes. Seriously.
Businesses Are Not Hiring Because They Are Grouchy
The way I see it, the business community is often very conflicted and way too cozy with the government policies and officials from which, sadly, it derives many privileges. Isn't that more reasons to listen to businesspeople when they complain?
Major Whistleblower Provisions in Financial Regulation Bill
While it has not been a major focus of bill opponents, the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill is loaded with major new extensions of whistleblower law into the economy’s financial sector.
Europe Falls Out of Love with Barack Obama
You know things must be going really badly for Barack Obama when even his most ardent supporters across the Atlantic are turning against him.
Chipping Away at the Union Stranglehold
Despite decades of union gridlock, the Washington, D.C., school board has successfully contracted with teachers unions to implement performance pay.
Side Effects: Obamacare Could Punish Docs for Better Quality Care
Pay-for-performance allows third parties to pay physicians based on treatment outcomes. In theory, this sounds like a great way to encourage doctors to improve outcomes. But in practice, it’s a bit more complex.

Research, Reports & Studies
Wells Fargo Economics Group: Factory Sector Gains Continue, Pace Moderating
Industrial production managed a 0.1 percent gain in June following its increase of 1.3 percent in May. And slower growth over the next few months after a very strong first half is the theme in the factory sector.
CBO’s Economic Forecasting Record: 2010 Update
...the current degree of economic dislocation exceeds that of any previous period in the past half-century, so the uncertainty inherent in current forecasts probably exceeds the historical average.
When Did the Rules Change?
Clinton proclaimed the era of Big Government was over, and left office quite popular. Barack Obama said, in effect, "Oh no, it's not!" and his presidency and his party are in freefall.
China’s Suspect Economic Data
China’s GDP officially rose 11.1 % on-year in price-adjusted terms in the first six months of 2010. A second glance is troubling, though. The comparison of GDP through June 2010 to GDP through June 2009 shows a nominal 23.6 percent gain.
Reclaiming America: Why We Honor the Tea Party Movement For 200 years, America’s principles have been under attack in the name of history and science and relativism, in favor of evolving truths, living constitutions, and bureaucratic government, through the Progressive Movement and the New Deal, the Great Society, and now into the age of Obama.
Europe What Future
…the full implications of what has gone wrong still need to be grasped by euro-zone countries, European countries outside the zone, and the United States. The global lessons to be learned are both political and economic; they relate especially to the danger of allowing politics to prevail over economics.

Economists’ Comments & Opinions
The Yo-Yo Market and You
The stock market will suffer dizzy spells until the fog of monetary policy uncertainty is lifted.
How to Tell a Nation Is at Risk
The ones with private sectors that are not doing well enough to bail out the government.
When the Cure is Worse Than the Disease
Invariably, the government rarely receives the amount of tax revenue the CBO estimates it will when tax rates are raised.
About That Financial Reform 'Victory'
Dodd-Frank may backfire on Democrats.
Economy puzzle solved
With each private-property owner seeking only the highest returns on the use of his or her property, an overall economic order is brought about. This order — this outcome — is intended by no one.
It's Time to Shift Spending to States
The U.S. fiscal path is unsustainable, primarily because of out-of-control entitlement spending. One way to avoid this outcome would be to transfer entitlement programs to the states.

Graphic of the Day
The Enterprise Blog: Major Financial Legislation: Number of Pages
VIDEO: Job creation and stimulus spending
See: The share of foreign-born labour in rich countries
See also: Travel and Tourism Expenditures in America

Book Excerpts
"…the Hudson Institute, Europe, has done a revealing study of the relationship between the growth of the public sector and real economic growth in fourteen countries. The findings show that overall growth is the lowest in countries where the government sector is largest… All such studies conclude that the expansion of government in the Western industrial nations results in shrinking profits, falling investment, and plunging growth rates." -Former Treasury Secretary William E. Simon, A Time for Truth (1978)

Did You Know
Recent reports from the L.A. Times show that since 2007, nearly $4.8 million in welfare funds have been withdrawn from ATMs in California casinos. And a new report shows that more than $12,000 from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program was withdrawn from ATMs in California strip clubs.

7/15/10 Post

BUZZ: Wall Street reform one vote from law as the Senate voted 60-38 to officially end debate on the bill. Next the chamber needs support of 51 senators to pass it to the President's desk

News
The financial regulation bill
Highlights of the compromise legislation to overhaul financial rules.
U.S. June producer prices fall 0.5%; core rises 0.1%
U.S. wholesale prices fell a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in June, marking their largest decline since February, led by lower food prices.
U.S. pockets $20.6 bln in sin taxes in FY'09
The U.S. federal government collected $20.6 billion in taxes on alcohol, tobacco, firearms and ammunition in fiscal year 2009, up 41 percent from the previous fiscal year.
Jobless claims sink to near 2-year low
The number of Americans filing for initial unemployment insurance dropped to the lowest level in nearly two years last week.
Lost decade: The new threat to the U.S. economy
Now some economists are starting to talk about an even worse fate: a prolonged period of very weak growth, a so-called "lost decade."
China's economic growth eases to 10.3%
China's GDP grew at an annual rate of 10.3% during the second quarter of 2010. The pace slowed from the 11.9% growth posted in the first quarter.
Industrial Production in U.S. Rose 0.1% in June
Industrial production in the U.S. unexpectedly rose in June as higher temperatures across the nation led to increased utility use. Factory output, which makes up 75 percent of the total, declined the most in a year.
The Fed's broken crystal ball
The latest forecasts from the Fed cut estimates for economic growth, predicted that high unemployment will be more persistent than previously thought and raised the risk of a deflation.
Signs of the Stimulus
Some Call it Transparency, Others Another Example of Government Waste.
Payday: Trial lawyers could get major tax cut despite major federal deficit
According to a Legal Newsline report from the annual meeting of the American Association for Justice, the nation’s lobbying arm for trial lawyers, the industry may get a tax break from the U.S. Treasury Department that would give trial lawyers the ability to write off expenses involved in contingency fee cases much in the same way businesses write off expenses. But unlike businesses, lawyers will benefit from the tax write-off in addition to the fee they charge clients.
Companies pile up cash but remain hesitant to add jobs
Nonfinancial companies are sitting on $1.8 trillion in cash, roughly one-quarter more than at the beginning of the recession.
As Tax Cuts' Expiration Date Nears, Little Consensus
President Barack Obama wants to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class only. Many House Democrats want to extend them for that group, too, but perhaps only for a year or two. Republicans, and a handful of centrist Democrats, are talking about extending all the tax cuts.
Public Policy Polling: Obama approval hits record low
45% of voters approve of the job he’s doing while 52% disapprove. This is the first time he’s topped the 50% disapproval mark in our surveys.
Rousing the Spirits of Business to Create More Jobs
Optimistic forecasters say the U.S. economy is likely to grow at a bit better than a 3.5% annual pace over the next 12 months, but even they say that will leave unemployment at a still-high 9% or so a year from now. The moderately pessimistic, whose ranks are growing daily, foresee growth a full percentage point or more slower. The seriously pessimistic are talking "double dip."
The Crippling Costs of Obesity in the Workplace
...private employers are hit with an estimated $45 billion a year in medical expenditures and work loss, according to a 2008 report by the Conference Board (the latest report available).
Richmond Fed chief opposes bail-outs
Jeffrey Lacker told the Financial Times that markets must have clear expectations about how short-term creditors would be treated in a bank failure. “Ambiguity about that was just deadly over the past few years coming into this crisis,” he said.

Blogs
U.S. Trade Deficit Improves
The trade data showed good news on the export and import front, with U.S. exports up 17.7 percent, imports up 21.4 percent from the first five months of last year.
Morning Bell: Why the Obama Stimulus Failed
A new CBS poll out today shows that 74 percent of Americans believe the Obama stimulus either damaged the economy or had no effect.
GOP Spending Cap
Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee have announced support for caps on the discretionary spending portion of the federal budget.
The Stolen Auto Sales
Remember back in 2009, when critics were claiming in the Cash for Clunkers program would just steal demand from the future? Well, about a year later here is some evidence that could be attributable that.
Spending Can Be Cut
It’s time for lawmakers and the policy community to start acting like real people with real money and to start excising those billions from the nation’s bloated budget.
Bill Gates Gets It
If we want to move forward on fixing our institutions, we have to get an accurate picture of how badly they’re being mismanaged, and eliminate those harmful practices.
Jobless Claims: Take the Latest Drop with a Grain of Salt
Aside from the usual disclaimer about not reading too much into a one-week trend, there are additional complications with the claims data right now resulting from some seasonal quirks.
Reid’s Cap-and-Trade Doublespeak
...Reid’s assumption of voter stupidity might actually outreach Kerry’s, because he also seems to think that chanting “utilities only” will fool people into thinking that, somehow, they won’t ultimately pay the price of higher energy costs resulting from the need of power generators to pay for carbon emissions.
The CEA's Impossible Job
The stimulus act instructed them to do the (nearly) impossible. Perhaps someday someone will conduct a study that credibly measures the macroeconomic effects of this particular fiscal stimulus. But it won't be easy. And it won't look much like the study released today.
Big Box Stores Don’t Produce Big Tax Gains
So-called big box stores like Wal-Mart and Home Depot produce few tax revenues relative to their size, according to a presentation by Peter Katz, Sarasota County, Fla. Director of Smart Growth.
More on Debt Collection
My commenters offer wise advice. One points out something I neglected to mention: do not pay the debts of dead people. Many collectors will attempt to collect from children. That's a matter for the estate, not the kids, and if there is no meaningful estate, the debt dies with them. Do not let an unscrupulous collector tell you otherwise.
Another Credit Market Regulation, With a Twist
The bottom line here is that those who are supporting legislation to chase out payday lenders are portraying themselves as the humanitarians, but it is they who are denying some of the poorest among us access to the credit they need to put food on the table between paychecks or to not have to wait what might be a crucial few days to buy medicine for their children.
The road to poverty
As I say in The Choice, self-sufficiency is the road to poverty. I’m liking this Keynes fellow less and less.
Minority-Owned Businesses Grew at Fast Rate From 2002-2007
The number of minority-owned businesses grew nearly 46% between 2002 and 2007, more than twice the rate of all U.S. businesses, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau’s survey of business owners.
What is the Fed Thinking? and What is the Fed Thinking, 2?
...the Fed could be thinking that setting an inflation dial to 3 percent is not an option. For small changes in Fed policy, the inflation rate will not be affected. And if the Fed goes beserk, the result will be to move us into the regime of high and variable inflation rates, which will actually be worse.
Just Say No to Extending the Bush Tax Cuts
...a temporary extension is simply going to make it harder to let them expire next year, for the same reasons that the AMT keeps getting "fixed" on an annual "temporary" basis. It is going to be hard enough, psychologically, for people to give up tax breaks they have had for ten years. Stretching it out longer just makes the pain more fierce.

Research, Reports & Studies
“Mostly Free” - The Startling Decline of America’s Economic Freedom and What to Do About It
With a score of only 78.0 the United States has fallen below the cutoff that earns countries the right to call themselves truly “free.”
A Rational Post-Spill Policy That Allows Offshore Drilling
Louisianans are the ones bearing the brunt of the damage from Deepwater Horizon, yet they overwhelmingly support continued offshore oil and gas production.
Obama's Tax Plan: Bad for Economic Growth
The 2001 and 2003 tax relief packages expire at the end of 2010. All taxpayers will see a steep tax hike in 2011 unless Congress acts soon.
The Constitutionalization of Money
The market will not work effectively with monetary anarchy. Politicization is not an effective alternative. We must commence meaningful dialogue with acceptance of these elementary verities.
Using Biofuel Tax Credits to Achieve Energy and Environmental Policy Goals
...assesses the incentives provided by the biofuel tax credits for producing different types of biofuels and analyzes whether they favor one type of biofuel over others. In addition, the study estimates the cost to U.S. taxpayers of reducing the use of petroleum fuels and emissions of greenhouse gases through those tax credits; it also analyzes the interaction of the credits and the biofuel mandates.
Wells Fargo Economics Group: Retail Sales Stalled in June
June’s retail sales figures provide further evidence that economic activity has slowed in a major way. Overall retail sales fell 0.5 percent, following a 1.1 percent drop in May. Sales ex autos fell 0.1 percent.
Migration as Trade Facilitation: Assessing the Links between International Trade and Migration
The results suggest that both immigrants and emigrants are significantly related to higher trade volumes. Immigrants seem to be especially good at facilitating trade in differentiated goods, for which information costs are particularly important.

Economists’ Comments & Opinions
Speaking Up for American Capitalism
Business has taken a pounding on Capitol Hill and at the White House and for the most part has remained silent. It's time to make our case.
Andy Grove Shouldn't Lose Faith In Startups
New businesses create a net of 3 million new jobs in America every year.
The Ugly Truth About Financial-Regulatory Reform
The financial-reform bill that hits the president’s desk this week is a 2,500-page failure that will only create more problems for federal regulators...
Economics Behaving Badly
As policymakers use it to devise programs, it’s becoming clear that behavioral economics is being asked to solve problems it wasn’t meant to address.

Graphic of the Day
States are facing a record decline in revenues due to the recession.
See: Summer Spending Trends Similar to 2009
See also: Where Have All the Millionaires Gone?
See also: June Industrial Production

Economic Outlook Hearing



JEC Ranking Republican Brownback questions Chair Romer about Unemployment Insurance during the July 14th Joint Economic Committee Hearing on the Economic Outlook.

Click to see addtional videos of the Hearing

"In January 2009, you published an economic analysis of Obama's stimulas $787 billion plan and forecast that if Congress were to pass this plan
1. The unemployment rate would remain below 8%
2. Non-farm payroll employment would increase to 137.6 million by the fourth quarter of 2010
3. 90% of the jobs created would be in the private sector.

Now let us compare your promises with reality
1. Since the stimulus was enacted the unemployment rate has never been below 8%. It has been up to 10.1% and is currently at 9.5%
2. In June 2010, non-farm payroll employment was 130.5 million, 7.1 million payroll jobs short of your forcast
3. Since February 2009, only the federal government has added payrol jobs. The private sector has actually lost 3.3 million payroll jobs.

Clearly, Obama's stimulus plan failed to work as you predicted. Instead this recovery has been unusually weak for one after a severe recession. Turning to the long-term consequences of the Democrats' economic policies, one sees higher taxes, heavy regulation, gaping federal budget deficits, and soaring federal debt."

- Congressman Kevin Brady, Ranking Republican House Member, Joint Economic Committee


Congressman Brady's opening statement to Chair Romer, in reference to the The Economic Impact of the American Recover and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Fourth Quarter Report released July 14, 2010

Click here to see the Fourth Quarter report

Book Excerpts
"It is not in the power of the government to make everybody more prosperous." - Ludwig von Mises, Bureaucracy (1944)

Did You Know
Nearly 528,000 homes were taken over by lenders in the first six months of the year, a rate that is on track to eclipse the more than 900,000 homes repossessed in 2009. The number of households facing foreclosure in the first half of the year climbed 8 percent versus the same period last year, but dropped 5 percent from the last six months of 2009. In all, about 1.7 million homeowners received a foreclosure-related warning between January and June. That translates to one in 78 U.S. homes.

7/14/10 Post

BUZZ: Chinese rating agency strips Western nations of AAA status

News
The financial regulation bill
Highlights of the compromise legislation to overhaul financial rules.
Court Tosses Out FCC Rules to Curb Indecent Speech
A three-judge panel of the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said the Federal Communications Commission's indecency policies violate the First Amendment and are "unconstitutionally vague, creating a chilling effect that goes far beyond the fleeting expletives at issue here."
Crop insurance companies sign off on plan that will cut subsidies $6 billion over 10 years
All 16 private insurance companies that participate in a federal crop insurance program have signed off on a plan designed to cut their subsidies.
Finance Overhaul Casts Long Shadow on the Plains
...it's the derivatives portion—the part of the bill aimed directly at Wall Street—that might end up touching most lives in rural America.
New WH report says economic stimulus bill responsible for saving or creating 3 million jobs
A new White House report says last year's $862 billion stimulus law has now "saved or created" between 2.5 million and 3.6 million jobs. That's up from 2.2 million to 2.8 million in the last quarterly report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Retail sales slip for 2nd straight month
Following seven consecutive increases retail sales fell for a second straight month, with weakness in the automotive sector a key factor in the downturn.
Higher Taxes Boost State Revenue
While states have seen modest tax growth, local-government revenues have just started to fall.
Dumping the dollar: Why it's time to diversify
As much as 64% of the world's currency reserves are held in greenbacks but given the manic ups and downs of the dollar in recent years, it may finally be time to diversify the world's reserves.
U.S. Business Groups Air Policy Concerns
Washington's major business groups plan a united front Wednesday in their confrontation with the Obama administration over economic policy, calling on the White House to cut taxes and curb its regulatory agenda.
TARP failed Main Street banks
The Troubled Asset Relief Program's help has made little difference for small banks, according to the latest report by the Congressional Oversight Panel.
Net neutrality comes back to haunt Google
This year, “search neutrality” has become the rallying cry of activists who believe that Google has too much power to decide which internet sites are granted the attention that comes with a high search ranking, and which are consigned to outer darkness.
Home-buying loan applications at 13-year low
Application for mortgages to purchase a home sank a seasonally adjusted 3.1% for the week ended July 9 on a week-over-week basis, driving the volume to its lowest level since December 1996. On an annual basis, applications for the week were down 43%.
Portugal Feels Austerity's Bite
After Years of Budget Cuts, Its Economy Isn't Healed; Scenario for Others in Europe.
U.S. June budget deficit $68 billion: Treasury
Income was $251 billion in June, about $36 billion higher than receipts in June 2009, due largely to a 39% increase in corporate tax receipts. Spending was $319 billion in June, versus $309 billion a year ago.
Fed Sees Slower Growth
Officials Debate How to Respond if Recovery Falters; Softer 2nd Half Is Seen.

Blogs
Morning Bell: Cap and Ban
On Monday the Obama administration reissued a ban on offshore oil drilling in the gulf after federal courts twice invalidated the first ban.
Senators Press Kagan about Obama-Care
Given that she appears to take an expansive view of Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce, the best possible outcome for opponents of Obama-Care would probably be for Kagan to join the Court.
Senate Bill Sows Seeds of Next Financial Crisis
In choosing to ignore the actual causes of the financial crisis and instead further expanding government guarantees behind financial risk-taking, Congress is eliminating whatever market discipline might have been left in the banking industry.
It’s Summer in Washington and the Livin’ Is Good
According to a new Regional Income Earnings Index developed by the Martin Prosperity Institute, Greater Washington, D.C. is the nation’s metropolitan region with the highest income.
Macro Beliefs and Reality
I am leaning toward a view of macroeconomics in which firms, households, and government face a collision between beliefs and reality.
Economists React: ‘Shop til You Drop? Hardly’
Economists and others weigh in on the decline in June retail sales.
Sticky (and very high)
For states that have been irresponsible or unlucky and find themselves short of revenue, why not reduce salaries some, say 10% and save that money? ...One answer is that state and city employees are under union contracts that are not easily adjusted on short notice.
Farms Get Smaller, Less Government Support
More — but smaller — farms across the country generated greater national net income in times of drastically less government support.
Further stimulation
...on nominal vs. real effects of government spending.
Secondary Sources: Student Defaults, Factory Peak, Trichet on Austerity
A roundup of economic news from around the Web.

Research, Reports & Studies
The Secret to Human Happiness Is Earned Success
The free enterprise system is an act of self-expression reflecting that Americans truly value earned success, which gives people a sense of meaning about their lives.
As Obama Kowtows, Unions Eye the Private Sector
Unions gave $400 million to Democrats in the 2008 campaign cycle, and they expect to get something in return.
The Moral Basis for Economic Liberty
Those who defend free markets and capitalism often do so solely on managerial or technical grounds, but economic liberty needs a moral defense as well. Defense of economic liberty without reference to morality will ultimately prove injurious to liberty itself
“Rebalancing” Chinese Investment in the U.S.
The first policy step must be to remove confusion caused by ongoing and haphazard political interference. Because most Chinese investment in the U.S. is made by state-owned entities, it will be reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment.
Does Government Spending Stimulate Economies?
...greater government spending does not aid the economy; in fact, it causes decreased consumption and investment.
Macroeconomic Effects from Government Purchases and Taxes
Spending multipliers are identified primarily from variations in defense spending, especially changes associated with buildups and aftermaths of wars.

Economists’ Comments & Opinions
Time to fire America's management
Corporate income tax cripples the economy.
Fed should stay on sideline
The Fed should not overreact to every piece of news, either good or bad, as mixed data are part of every recovery, said president of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank Thomas Hoenig.
Politicians Are the Problem for Higher Ed
Higher education is awash in government cash, with tens of billions of taxpayer dollars going to schools and students annually.
The Uncertainty Principle
Dodd-Frank will require at least 243 new federal rule-makings.
Arrogance Surplus Leads to Government Excesses
Good policy is what might be called humble policy. It starts with admitting what we don’t know.
A New Immigration Policy Can Reduce U.S. Debt
Reducing the number of skilled legal immigrants reduces chances for economic growth.

Little-known macro fact: Reverse Phillips Curve. Correlation between annual real GDP growth and inflation, '47-'10 = -0.14 -Garett Jones, Twitter

Graphic of the Day
Federal budget gap tops $1 trillion through June
See: Gross public debt projections
See Also: June Retail Sales
See Also : Obama Job Deficit

Book Excerpts
"Today, when it is an accepted principle that the function of the state is to distribute wealth to everybody, it is natural that the state is held accountable for this commitment. To keep it, it multiplies taxes and produces more poverty than it cures. With new demands on the part of the public and new taxes on the part of the state, we cannot but go from one revolution to another. But if it were well understood that the state can take from the workers only what is strictly indispensable to guarantee them against all fraud and all violence, I cannot perceive from what side disorder would come." - Frédéric Bastiat, 'Justice and Fraternity' (1848)

Did You Know
According to a recent survey, 87 % of small business owners viewed free enterprise as “very positive” or “positive”; 78 % of all voters agreed. Conversely, only 12 % of small business owners and 3 percent of all voters viewed the idea of socialism “very favorably.” Small business owners know what they need for their businesses to flourish—and government isn’t it.

7/13/10 Post

BUZZ: Confidence in Obama reaches new low, Washington Post-ABC News poll finds

News
New Ban Hits Oil Drillers
Administration's Call for Halt Comes as BP Installs New Cap on Damaged Well.
New Orleans Mayor: Future 'in Peril'
New Orleans is facing a $67 million budget deficit, Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced Thursday, in an unflinching "state of the city" address in which he decried a litany of daunting problems, old and new, and said the future of the city is "in peril" unless it changes the way it does business.
U.S. Trade Gap Widens
U.S. exports grew 2.4% to a 20-month high of $152.25 billion, from $148.72 billion in April. Imports increased at a greater rate... 2.9% to $194.52 billion from $189.04 billion.
Snowe, Brown provide crucial GOP support for Wall Street regulation
Snowe of Maine and Brown of Massachusetts join Susan Collins of Maine as three crucial Republican votes for the legislation. The three lawmakers appeared to give Democratic leaders the 60 votes needed to overcome hurdles facing the legislation.
Bernanke: Bolstering small business lending crucial to economic recovery
While big companies have stockpiled cash and are expected to report strong profits starting this week, small businesses have struggled to secure loans to expand and hire.
4 reasons why Texas beats California in a recession
The reason is that Texas powered through the global fiscal crisis, while The Golden State's economy is forecast to remain tarnished for some time.
Wall Street reform and the price of milk
Congress is expected to finally pass the massive Wall Street reform bill later this week. For the first time, regulators will rein in speculative bets in the energy and commodities futures markets -- something that could affect what you pay for gasoline and milk.
Moody's downgrades Portugal's debt
Moody's downgraded Portugal's government bond ratings to A1 from Aa2, saying this stemmed from "ongoing deterioration in the country's debt metrics."
Out of jobless benefits? There's more government aid
A growing number of jobless Americans are maxing out their unemployment benefits. There are a handful of other lifeline benefits that the unemployed may qualify for.
Job openings drop in May
Job openings at U.S. workplaces fell to 3.2 million in May from an upwardly revised 3.3 million in April. There were 4.7 unemployed people for every job opening in May.
The real green solution: Tax the bad stuff
"The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now." from one of President Obama's speeches about BP

Blogs
Fighting Unemployment With a Stick
As the U.S. struggles with the problem of persistent long-term unemployment, a study of incentives in the Netherlands suggests a stick is more effective than a carrot.
The Growth of Federal Regulation
While taxes typically get the lion’s share of attention in popular discussions of government drags on the economy (and taxes are important), heavy-handed regulation is often a more pernicious drag.
Summer Reading
This Time is Different is sweeping in its compass and I have only just begun my reading. The aphorism is an “old saw” in the marketplace: “More money has been lost because of four words than at the point of a gun.”
Small Businesses Get More Pessimistic
Small businesses continue to feel highly pessimistic about the U.S. economic outlook, according to a report Tuesday that showed a monthly indicator of their sentiment turning weaker in June.
Department of Awful Statistics: How Much of the Government's Revenue Goes to a Few Programs?
I don't know who got this mangled, the reporter or the heads of the budget commission. But I sure hope it's the former, because if it's the latter . . . well, we're in even bigger trouble than I thought.
Dodd-Frank: Gift to Trial Lawyers, Feminists, and Hollywood The provisions of Dodd-Frank that mandate diversity and ban movie box-office futures support Paul Atkins’ observation that “This poorly drafted hodgepodge—most provisions have nothing to do with the true causes of the financial crisis—will drastically expand the power of the federal government, create new bureaucracies staffed with thousands, and do little to help the struggling American citizen.”
BLS: Low Labor Turnover in May
Layoffs and discharges have declined sharply since early 2009 - and are near a series low - and that is a good sign.
Should the U.S. Restrict Immigration?
Recent debates about Arizona’s new immigration law have taken as self-evident that immigration restrictions are good policy, with the only question being which level of government should enforce the law, and how.
Free Trade Begins at Home
It may surprise you to learn, then, that in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, proprietors of a 40-year-old family farm that yields flowers, pumpkins and Christmas trees, are facing fines and 90-day jail sentences for attempting to sell their products in that town.
Morning Bell: The Obama Tax and Spend Threat to Economic Recovery
Remember President Barack Obama’s promise to the American people not to raise taxes? Forget about it. While the President has already raised taxes on cigarettes and tanning beds, none of that compares to what could happen in January.

Research, Reports & Studies
The Effect of Corporate Taxes on Investment and Entrepreneurship
In a cross-section of countries, our estimates of the effective corporate tax rate have a large adverse impact on aggregate investment, FDI, and entrepreneurial activity.
Gates's Last Stand?
Few would say the current export control system adequately achieves its objectives--that is, protecting U.S. national security and facilitating U.S. technological leadership.
American Fairness Means Equality of Opportunity, Not Income
The intellectual and political leaders of the 30 percent coalition prefer a world in which we all end up in roughly the same economic place regardless of our abilities and efforts.
Further Medicaid Bailout: Unfair and Irresponsible
Many states are lobbying the Senate to extend the Medicaid bailout enacted in the February 2009 stimulus bill. While several attempts by Senate leaders to extend the bailouthave failed, it is likely to be brought to the floor again.

Economists’ Comments & Opinions
The Bush Tax Cuts and the Deficit Myth
Runaway government spending, not declining tax revenues, is the reason the U.S. faces dramatic budget shortfalls for years to come.
Obama's 'Export' Strategy Is a Laugh...we import more goods than we export precisely because a great deal of what we export is shares in some of the world's leading companies that don't count as exports. In short, our trade deficit results from a surplus of capital flowing into the U.S. thanks to investors viewing the U.S. as the best place to invest. All trade once again balances.
Obama's Immigration Fakery
In 2007, then-Sen. Obama helped derail an immigration bill he claimed to support. He's no more serious about a bipartisan bill today.

Graphic of the Day
Mercatus Center: Total Welfare Cost of the VAT
See: Dow vs GDP
See also: Food Consumption in America
See also: Social Security Spending Soon to Rise Rapidly
See also: May Trade Balance

Book Excerpts
"The consumers are merciless. They never buy in order to benefit a less efficient producer and to protect him against the consequences of his failure to manage better. They want to be served as well as possible. And the working of the capitalist system forces the entrepreneur to obey the orders issued by the consumers." - Ludwig von Mises, Bureaucracy (1944)

Did You Know
"The Capitol and other congressional buildings are rife with fire traps and other pervasive problems of age and dangerous design, with an estimated 6,300 safety hazards lurking on Capitol Hill this Congress... Workplace safety experts say that if Congress were a private-sector business, it would be at risk for massive fines from government regulators."

7/12/10 Post

BUZZ: U.S. Weighs Tax That Has VAT of Political Trouble

News
Analysis: How 2 million Americans lost their jobless benefits in an election year
Hundreds of thousands of workers unemployed for more than six months started losing the weekly checks in June and it's not clear when they could resume.
Congress is back - and so is the spending debate
To spend money or to watch their pennies that is the question. There are three pressing issues that lawmakers will wrestle with in July, Unemployment insurance, Aid to states, and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Emergency Fund.
U.S. economy still in a soft patch
We're still growing, but the slower pace is forcing us to rethink how durable the recovery is. Retail sales, production expected to decline in June.
Some sound businesses shut by lack of credit: Bernanke
Although there is a debate over the causes of the problem of the lack of credit to small businesses, the bottom line is that some good businesses have been shut as a result.
Wall Street reform bill: One vote away
"It is a better bill than it was when this whole process started," Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., said in a statement. "While it isn't perfect, I expect to support the bill when it comes up for a vote."
Byrd seat at issue in special W. Virginia meeting
With Democrats in Washington seeking all the votes they can get for a financial-reform bill and an extension of unemployment benefits, members of the West Virginia legislature will meet Thursday to clarify how a successor to the late Sen. Robert Byrd will be decided.
The Herd Instinct Takes Over
Component Stocks' Correlation to S&P 500 at Highest Level Since '87 Crash.
Obama's debt commission warns of fiscal 'cancer'
The two leaders -- former Republican senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming and Erskine Bowles, White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton -- sought to build support for the work of the commission, whose recommendations due later this year are likely to spark a fierce debate in Congress.
Changes Choke Cap-and-Trade Market
The market's collapse shows how vulnerable market-based approaches to reducing air pollution are to government actions. That could scare off investors, who won't commit to a market where the rules can change at any minute.
Crisis Awaits World’s Banks as Trillions Come Due
If institutions are unable to raise the money that they need on the open market, the European Central Bank would have to decide whether to continue to prop them up.
Revisiting the Regulations Affecting Business
White House, in Policy Review, Asks Executives to List Obstacles to Growth; No Specific Changes Proposed So Far.
IRS starts mopping up Congress's tax-reporting mess
With a new mandate looming that will require business owners to file millions more tax forms, the Internal Revenue Service has begun the daunting process of figuring out how to turn the law's sweeping demands into actual rules for taxpayers.
Hiring Tax Credit Pushed
The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated the stimulus program would cost $13 bil.
End of Census, and for Many, End of Job
In past decades, the bureau faced a challenge just keeping workers around to close up shop, as most dashed for new jobs that might pay better. Not this time around.
Debt, Bank Troubles Leave U.S. Trailing in Job Growth
One year into the global recovery, the U.S. is lagging far behind other major economies in restoring jobs lost in the recession.
US stimulus shifts to infrastructure spending
It was tilted towards tax breaks and safety-net payments to states and individuals in the first year, before shifting to infrastructure projects in 2010...
Investors Still Demand Treasurys, Despite Puny Yields
Faced with the prospect of a weak and uneven recovery and lingering concerns over Europe's fiscal problems, investors see plenty of reasons to buy traditionally safer government securities.
Racial quotas in Dodd-Frank financial regulatory bill
The Dodd-Frank financial regulatory bill, ostensibly aimed at reforming Wall Street and preventing a future financial crisis, will impose racial and gender quotas on financial institutions if passed, according to economist Diana Furchtgott-Roth.

Blogs
Restore Free Markets to Health Care
Eline van den Broek urges the repeal of Obama-care and also points out some of the other reforms that are needed to restore a free market to the US health care system.
As Predicted, Obama Weak on Immigration Enforcement
Obama Administration’s year-old worksite audit policy is resulting in far fewer deportations of illegal immigrants, which means that those illegal immigrants are simply moving to different jobs elsewhere in America.
Are the Rich Really More Likely to Walk Away From Their Mortgages?
All the data I've seen show that millionaires--aka "high net worth individuals" are not particularly likely to live in million dollar homes. Who is? People who live in areas with expensive real estate. And where is the expensive real estate? Why, often in the areas that experienced the biggest inflation during the housing bubble.
Minsky-Jones Answers Tyler Cowen
Garett Jones would say that labor is mostly overhead, and firms have shed a lot of overhead. They are sacrificing growth in future capabilities in order to shore up current profits. Minsky would say that they are shoring up current profits because we are at the "hedge finance" stage of the business cycle, in which firms are trying to reduce debt in order to be able to finance operations internally.
Last Call
Daniel Okrent's Last Call, a history of the rise and fall of alcohol prohibition, is a masterpiece. Of course the writing is great but Okrent is also very good at building the history on a framework of analysis and social science.
Weekly Summary and a Look Ahead
This will be a busy week. The key economic report this week will be June retail sales to be released on Wednesday.
Still Hearing Defunct Economists in the Air: Krugman’s Misplaced Attack on Hayek
I fear that Dr. Krugman is one of those “practical men of affairs” who is the slave of a defunct economist named John Maynard Keynes.
Is the economy headed down again?
...I'm still not an economic optimist, but I do have a rosier view of the default course than do many other commentators. I just don't think the shocks have finished arriving.
Bernanke Urges Small-Business Lending
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged banks and regulators Monday to seek out ways to ensure that small businesses get the credit they need to create jobs.
Euro and European Bond Spreads
Although off the recent peak, the Greek spreads have widened over the last month. For the other countries, the spreads have been mostly flat since mid-June.
Pearlstein Wants Tough Trade Measures Against China…and the U.S.
By balancing the economic relationship, presumably Pearlstein is speaking about the need to reduce the bilateral trade deficit, which spurs a net outflow of dollars to China, some of which the Chinese lend back to Americans, who in turn can then buy more imports from China, and the cycle continues. But to tip the scales in favor of the blunt force action he recommends later, Pearlstein characterizes Chinese investment in the United States as living beyond our means, losing ownership of “our” assets, and eroding our industrial and technological base. That is a paternalistic and inaccurate characterization of the dynamics of capital inflows from China.
Secondary Sources: Fed Action, Deficits, Rich Defaulters
A roundup of economic news from around the Web.
Tough Love
The Federal Government’s balanced budget requirement isn’t weak; it is nonexistent (you might say they are on the honor system). So what might we expect spending to look like if every state in the union could borrow from the Federal Government whenever it was expedient?
Easterly channels Hayek
How do you liberate people to allow them to help themselves? You look for the barriers that keep them from helping themselves. Ironically, sending large amounts of money to corrupt leaders probably creates the single largest barrier.

Research, Reports & Studies
On the New Culture War over Free Enterprise
“The Battle" presents the evidence that free enterprise is an expression of the core values of a large majority of Americans. Personal liberty, individual opportunity and entrepreneurship are the explanation for our nation's past success and the promise of greater things to come.
Bad Medicine: A Guide to the Real Costs and Consequences of the New Health Care Law
The more we learn about what is in this new law, the more it looks like bad news for American taxpayers, businesses, health-care providers, and patients.
Obama Economy Sends Americans to Their Mattresses
Government policies designed to stimulate the economy seem to be having the opposite effect. Consumers aren't buying, businesses aren't hiring and those fortunate enough to have some cash on hand don't seem to be investing. I call it the mattress economy.
Wells Fargo Economics Group: Weekly Economic & Financial Commentary
Those Lazy Days of Summer Are Here.
Public Interest Comment on the Connect America Fund
Creation of the Connect America Fund offers the FCC the opportunity to make a clean break with past subsidy disbursement practices that were often ineffective, inefficient, and unaccountable for achieving the outcomes articulated in the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
Hudson Institute Economic Report
In another sign of slower growth, wholesale inventories rose 0.5 percent in May, following a 0.2 percent increase in April, as shoppers stayed home and inventories built up.
Wells Fargo Economics Group: What Really Drives Growth in the Industrial Sector?
Although U.S. manufacturing employment has declined by 40 percent since its peak in 1979, the volume of industrial output in the United States has nearly doubled over the past 30 years.

Economists’ Comments & Opinions
Positives outweigh the negatives, top forecaster says
The U.S. economy has lost some momentum in the past month or two, but the recovery is still on track.
The Great Recession's Stranglehold
Most Americans, Pew says, believe adverse economic changes will be temporary. Optimism will return.
Immigration Can Fuel U.S. Innovation—and Job Growth
Lost amid the heated debate over U.S. policy is a key point: Immigrant entrepreneurs and skilled workers are a boon to the economy.
Here's How You Quickly Create Jobs
Abolish the corporate income tax.
Housing Gets Sick on Keynesian Roller Coaster
Many nonpartisan economists who have studied stimulus spending have generally concluded that it is counterproductive and destabilizing. The history of the homebuyers’ credit provides a case study that illustrates where that conclusion comes from.
Who Pays for ObamaCare?
...much of ObamaCare's redistribution will merely move income to the lower middle class from the upper middle class, and the President habitually promises that people earning under $200,000 will be exempt from his tax increases. We now know they won't be.
Canada's economy can teach the U.S. a thing or two
The United States will probably take years to recover from the global recession and credit crunch, economists say, but its northern neighbor is back in fine shape.
Prime Numbers: Oil Spill Has Little Effect on U.S. Economy
The industries most affected — oil and gas exploration, commercial fishing and tourism — account for about 9 percent of gross domestic product in the Gulf region, according to an analysis by Barclays Capital. That’s about 1.5 percent of U.S. GDP, and only a tiny fraction of that has been disrupted by the spill.
The Trilemma of International Finance
AS the world economy struggles to recover from its various ailments, the international financial order is coming under increased scrutiny.

Graphic of the Day
WSJ: Number of the Week: Euro Zone Debt Is Coming Due
INTERACTIVE: The Economist house-price indicators
PODCAST: Gregory on Politics, Murder, and Love in Stalin's Kremlin
See: Taking apart the federal budget
See also: Recent Federal Deficits

Book Excerpts
"Not understanding the process of a spontaneously-ordered economy goes hand-in-hand with not understanding the creation of resources and wealth. And when a person does not understand the creation of resources and wealth, the only intellectual alternative is to believe that increasing wealth must be at the cost of someone else. This belief that our good fortune must be an exploitation of others may be the taproot of false prophecy about doom that our evil ways must bring upon us." - Julian Simon, The Ultimate Resource (1981)

Did You Know
"About a quarter of the swine flu vaccine produced for the U.S. public has expired – meaning that a whopping 40 million doses worth about $260 million is being written off as trash."

7/9/10 Post

BUZZ: IMF Urges U.S. to Consider Higher Taxes, Social Security Cuts

News
Obama Seeking $5 Billion for Clean-Energy Tax Credit to Spur Job Creation
Obama said in his prepared remarks, released by the White House, that the $5 billion investment would generate almost 40,000 jobs and the $12 billion in private capital would add another 90,000 jobs.
Retailers Stock Up on Caution
Consumers aren't stepping up spending at the pace many retailers expected just a few months ago, raising the specter that stores will be stuck with piles of unsold goods later this year.
Canada Job Creation Is Five Times Economist Forecasts as Economy Recovers
Employment rose by 93,200 in June, following gains of 24,700 in May and April’s record 108,700, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. The jobless rate fell to 7.9 percent, the lowest since January 2009, from 8.1 percent.
U.S. Plans Cyber Shield for Utilities, Companies
The federal government is launching an expansive program dubbed "Perfect Citizen" to detect cyber assaults on private companies and government agencies running such critical infrastructure as the electricity grid and nuclear-power plants, according to people familiar with the program.
Rogoff Sees `Very, Very High' Chance European Aid Package Will Be Tapped
Harvard University professor Kenneth Rogoff said European nations will likely draw on a regional aid package after the International Monetary Fund urged the region to take further steps to combat its debt crisis.
A New Detroit Rises in India's South
Car Makers Are Lured by Chennai's Port, Educated Workers and Limited Hassles.

Blogs
A Grove of Misconceptions
It’s ironic that a pioneer in an industry that has done so much to make workers more efficient – to enable a small handful of workers today to produce what in the past required many workers – now calls for public policies (such as trade barriers) to reverse many of the very efficiencies that his own entrepreneurial efforts have made possible.
Gratitude for ‘Broken’ American Healthcare
For my part, at the moment, the only appropriate response is awe and gratitude to have access to the healing power of American medicine. It’s an unfortunate human tendency that we often fail to be thankful for something until we’re in danger of losing it.
Dictionary of Received Ideas
That's the name of a feature by Justin Evans in the new periodical The Point (issue two, Winter 2010).
Consumer Credit declines sharply in May
Consumer credit is off 3.9% over the last 12 months.
Lebron and State Taxes
...omitted is the huge income-tax advantage on LeBron's non-athlete earnings. He could claim those as income he made in Florida and I would bet that those earnings are a multiple of his pay from whatever team hires him.
30 Year Mortgage Rates fall to Record Low
...averaged 4.57 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending July 8, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.58 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.20 percent.
Laffer on Unemployment Insurance
...I don't think unemployment insurance is stimulus. But you don't prove something by assuming it from the getgo.
How Large is the Outstanding Value of Sovereign Bonds?
Debt issued by governments worldwide is immense.
Warren Buffett’s Favorite Indicator Pops
According to Warren Buffett’s favorite economic indicator, rail traffic in the United States is booming again and gaining momentum this year, which is a good sign for the future direction of the U.S. economy.
Why Hold Reserves?
Suppose you see an individual, a bank, or a corporation sitting on a big pile of money. What should you conclude?
Volunteers Take Better Care of Detroit Than Elected Officials
This is a great example of why private citizens can be more invested in their communities, and thus take better care of them, than the government.

Research, Reports & Studies
How the Great Recession Has Changed Life in America
A Balance Sheet at 30 Months.
Regulation: Money to Go
The title loanmarket, like other markets for nontraditional loans, appears to be highly competitive and barriers to entry appear to be low. Pricing is highly transparent and simple, allowing easy comparison shopping by consumers. Absent an identifiablemarket failure, the case for heavy-handed paternalistic intervention is weak.
Ten Principles of Privatization
Best practices in privatization to lower the costs of government.
Regulation: Tracking ‘Go-Getters’ Across America
We discovered that emerging knowledge economies and
high levels of economic freedomdo indeed attract go-getters. Personal freedomand a creative environment are also important factors. Most consequential, however, is evidence that domestic and internationalmigrants behave very differently when deciding where to locate in the United States.

Did You Know
According to Forbes.com, the top 10 tax havens are: Delaware, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Cayman Islands, the City of London, Ireland, Bermuda, Singapore, Belgium, and Hong Kong.

Graphic of the Day
Political Calculations: Texas vs California: Which State Do CEOs Think Is Better for Business?
See: Construction and Education/Health Jobs

Economists’ Comments & Opinions
Obama threatens to follow in FDR's economic missteps
"By reaching into virtually every sector of economic life, government is injecting uncertainty into the marketplace and making it harder to raise capital and create new businesses."
Mitch Daniels on American Conservatism
Hayek, when I thumb back through it and look at what I marked when I first read it, was the book that, to me, convincingly demonstrated what was already intuitive: namely, the utter futility, the illusion of government planning as a mechanism for uplifting those less fortunate.
Housing Bulls Should Try Texas
Texas may have avoided the excesses of other states partly because of laws enacted after its own property bust in the 1980s.
The Obama-Pelosi Lame Duck Strategy
Union 'card-check,' cap and trade, and so much more.

Why do people presume that there must be something the government can do that would speed recovery? -Russ Roberts, Twitter

Book Excerpts
"What we know with certainty is that the regulatory process—acutely stepped up since the sixties—has had a devastating impact on investment, price stability, innovation, productivity, and economic development.

The incredible irony is that all this, allegedly executed in the interest of the consumer, has ultimately come out of the consumer’s pocket." -Former Treasury Secretary William E. Simon, A Time for Truth (1978)