Vietnam Cuts Refinance Rate to 12% From 13%, Effective May 28
United States Channel: Latest Posts
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United States
Sluggish U.S. Growth Continues
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday that U.S. real GDP grew at a 2.2% annual rate during the first quarter, down from the 3.0% growth of 2011:Q4, and below the 2.4-2.9% range that the FOMC indicated yesterday it is anticipating for 2012 as a whole. I see some reasons to agree with the Fed [...]
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United States
How Overpriced Is US Health Insurance?
This chart says it all. The medical-industrial complex and American policymakers should be ashamed. Hat tip Business Insider. This post originally appeared at naked capitalism and is posted with permission.
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United States
Bernanke’s Shift
There has been a fierce counterattack to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s assertion that he is indeed the same Professor Bernanke that advised the Bank of Japan a decade ago. See, for example, Brad DeLong, David Beckworth, and Ryan Avent. DeLong identifies this 1999 Bernanke quote: [Si]nce 1991 inflation has exceeded 1% only twice… the [...]
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Efraim Chalamish's Economic Development and Security Blog
The Return of Investment Policy – The U.S. Is Back in the Game
Foreign investment policy hasn’t been the main focus of the U.S. government in recent years. However, this may begin to change and industry leaders should not stay behind. Inconsistent and fragmented U.S. government decisions have made it difficult for foreign investors in the U.S. to make critical investment decisions. The primary focus on trade policies, [...]
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United States
GDP Pushes Dollar Down Further
The foreign currencies are mostly extending their gains against the greenback following the initial estimate of Q1 GDP. The 2.2% pace was a bit disappointing to market expectations which had appeared to creep higher in recent days. The details are a bit better as household consumption was stronger at 2.9% after a 2.1% pace in [...]
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United States
The New American Economy: Concentrating Business Power to Suit an Unequal Society
Summary: Corporate power is concentrating in America, quite suitable for society with growing inequality of wealth and income. A new business structure for a new society. Today we look at some examples. This is one of the drivers of increasing concentration of wealth and power in America, pushing America from Republic to Plutocracy. Cartels and [...]
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United States
Will the Fiscal Cliff Eat the Recovery, Such as It Is?
Lately, the US has been winning the investment beauty contest among Cinderella’s ugly sisters. Europe’s addiction to austerity, rolling rescues, and inability to address internal imbalances means at best a wild ride and at worst a crisis resurgence. China still has its perennial fans, but long-standing bears like Jim Chanos have been joined more recently [...]
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United States
Three Regional Fed Surveys Report Slower Growth In April
April’s economic activity appears mixed, according to business surveys published by four regional Fed banks. Although all four updates reflect continued growth, three of the four indicate a slower pace of expansion in April vs. March. Only the central Atlantic region via the Richmond Fed indicated faster growth for the month. Here are excerpts from [...]
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United States
Bernanke: ‘Read My Lips, Not My Japan Papers!’
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was asked yesterday in the post-FOMC press conference whether the Fed’s response to the current economic crisis is consistent with his views as an academic. The context for this question was Paul Krugman’s recent article where he noted that Bernanke was not following his own advice in the late 1990s where [...]
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Ed Dolan's Econ Blog
The Charitable Deduction as a Tax Expenditure: What it Buys and What to Do About It (Part 2)
In the first part of this post, I argued that the charitable deduction is popular because people perceive it as a reduction in taxes that encourages charitable giving, but that perception rest on false premises. The charitable deduction is better viewed as a tax expenditure than as a tax reduction; surprisingly little of it goes [...]
