General Economics

News                                                                                                                             
Bloomberg | Companies Forego New Buildings for Renovations: EcoPulse
Many American businesses are choosing to save money by renovating existing buildings instead of constructing new ones, a sign that caution persists even as the economic recovery enters its fifth year.
Market Watch | U.S. wholesale inventories edge up 0.1% in July
U.S. wholesale inventories rose 0.1% in July and wholesale sales also increased by 0.1%, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
Bloomberg | JPMorgan Removes Lending Barriers in Booming U.S. Markets
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), the nation’s largest bank by assets, is easing mortgage lending standards in housing markets hard hit by the crash where prices are surging.

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
Real Clear Markets | There Was Nothing 'Financial' About the 2008 Crisis
What's most unfortunate five years later is that ‘financial' and ‘crisis' are still used together. It's unfortunate simply because despite what you read, the crisis was decidedly not financial, nor was it caused by a crackup in the housing market, nor was it caused by the failure of Lehman Brothers.
Bloomberg | Are Emerging Economies Entering a Lost Decade?
Financial markets are signaling that several major emerging economies may be approaching crisis.
WSJ | First Rule of Patent Reform: Do No Harm
With Congress back in session, lawmakers are drafting new patent legislation in response to a perceived increase in patent-infringement lawsuits lodged by "trolls" who are accused of being more interested in payoffs than in progress. Judging by the number of proposals, the current patent regime may need improvement. But the stakes are high, and Congress must be careful not to get patent reform wrong.
Forbes | As Entrepreneurs Keep Reminding Us, They Lied To Us In Econ. 101
Can theoretical, scientific study of complex systems inform the hardscrabble world of start-ups? Yes.
WSJ | Five Years Later, Financial Lessons Not Learned
Next Sunday marks the fifth anniversary of the fateful day that investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, signaling the start of a frightening financial meltdown. It's a good time to ponder how the U.S. economy was nearly brought to ruin. But will we? Or are we already forgetting?
NY Times | Can the Government Actually Do Anything About Inequality?
For a moment, let’s forget the central debate of our political period — how much of a role government should play in our lives — and ask a different question: can government policies counteract inequality in any meaningful way?
NBER | Time-To-Plan Lags for Commercial Construction Projects
We use a large project-level dataset to estimate the length of the planning period for commercial construction projects in the United States.

Blogs                                                                                                                             
WSJ | Poorest Americans Still Spending Less Than They Did in 2008
The average American household spent $51,442 in 2012, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That’s more than the $50,486 spent in 2008, the first time since the recession that average spending has topped its prior peak. Spending bottomed out at $48,109 in 2010.

Health Care

News                                                                                                                             
WSJ | California Says Health Exchange Will Be Ready
California officials say they expect state residents will be able on Oct. 1 to enroll online in new insurance plans available under the federal health law, erasing earlier doubts about the readiness of the system.
National Journal | Obamacare Opponents’ Shouts for Defunding Largely Ignored on Capitol Hill
“I hope I don’t get skin cancer out here!” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., exclaimed to the few hundred people assembled in front of the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon. “Can you imagine the line?”
WSJ | Stopping ObamaCare Fraud
Every politician claims to hate fraud in government, and the House of Representatives will have a chance to prove it Wednesday when it votes to close a gigantic hole for potential abuse in the Affordable Care Act.

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
Washington Times | Compounding Obamacare
Forcing Americans to give up their favorite doctors and health plans through Obamacare isn’t all the administration plans to do to shake up health care. It’s going after the corner drugstore pharmacist with a scheme to require Mom-and-Pop druggists to take further orders from the bureaucrats at the Food and Drug Administration.

Monetary

News                                                                                                                             
Bloomberg | U.S. Regional Banks Root for Fed to Ease Squeeze on Rates
Regional lenders including Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) and BB&T Corp. (BBT) are rooting for the Federal Reserve to let interest rates rise, a move that could help their results more than at some of the biggest Wall Street firms.
WSJ | Volcker Rule to Curb Bank Trading Proves Hard to Write
Hours after being sworn in as Treasury Secretary in February, Jacob Lew pulled regulators into a conference room and delivered a blunt message: Get the Volcker rule done.

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
Real Clear Markets | 2008's Regulatory 'Solutions' May Author the Next Crisis
At this time five years ago, our financial markets were confronting the failures or near-failures of financial companies with household names and global reach. Part of the legacy of the events of September 2008 may end up being more bad regulatory policy.

Blogs                                                                                                                             
Economist | On the meaning of inflation
Inflation, like demand itself, is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon. Milton Friedman was right about that. But while that's a useful thing to know it's not always the answer to the question we're really asking about macroeconomic troubles.

Taxes

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
WSJ | Beltway Revenue Boom
This isn't news the politicians want to broadcast, but federal tax revenue is booming. The latest monthly Congressional Budget Office review released Monday reports that, for the 11 months of the fiscal year through August, revenue is up $284 billion or 13% from a year earlier. We're guessing that's bigger than your raise this year.

Employment

News                                                                                                                             
FOX Business | Citi Plans to Lay Off 2,200 in Mortgage Unit
Citigroup (C) plans to lay off an estimated 2,200 workers within its mortgage business by early next year, as rising mortgage rates have hurt mortgage lending and refinancings, executives at the bank tell FOX Business.

Budget

News                                                                                                                             
Bipartisan Policy | New Bipartisan Policy Center Debt Ceiling Analysis Finds Government Could Hit Debt Ceiling in Mid-October
An analysis released today by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) finds that the federal government will be unable to meet all of its spending obligations as early as mid-October, unless the debt ceiling is raised.

Econ Comments & Analysis                                                                                            
Politico | Government fees the key to a budget bargain?
Lawmakers are deadlocked over tax increases and spending cuts, but there’s another way that could nudge them closer to addressing this fall’s budget challenges.