Economy | News-Opinion
TOP NEWS: Economy: June 8, 2012
Excerpts and more top stories
No Hint From the Fed of Taking New Steps
Jon Hilsenrath and Kirstina Peterson, WSJ - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cited significant risks to the U.S. economic recovery but stopped short of signaling Fed action to combat them, during testimony on Capitol Hill Thursday.
Young Adults Skip Health Care As Medical Debts Rise
Emily Jane Fox, CNN - Millions of young adults are forgoing necessary care and treatment because of rising health care costs, a report said Friday. [...] They are not filling prescriptions, skipping recommended tests or treatments, avoiding doctor visits and failing to get specialist care they need.
Accounting Backfired at MF Global
Floyd Norris, NY Times – The accounting maneuver allowed MF Global to buy bonds issued by European countries and book profits the same day. That is the rough equivalent of a farmer’s booking profits as soon as he plants the crop.
Reagan Was a Keynesian
Paul Krugman, NY Times - (Republicans) love to contrast President Obama’s record with that of Ronald Reagan, who, by this point in his presidency, was indeed presiding over a strong economic recovery. And, as I’ll explain shortly, the economic slump Reagan faced was very different from our current depression, and much easier to deal with. Still, the Reagan-Obama comparison is revealing in some ways.
U.S. Trade Imbalance Shrinks
The Associated Press, NY Times - The trade deficit in the United States shrank in April after a big drop in imports offset the first decline in exports in five months. [...] The slip in exports is troublesome to economists because it shows the weaker global economy is dampening demand for domestic goods.
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You Don’t Need To Be a Lefty to Support Krugman
Samuel Brittan, Financial Times - The remedy for too little spending is more spending. Everything else is commentary. [...] It is difficult to imagine Mr Krugman cheering for the Republicans. Nevertheless I cannot sufficiently emphasise that there is nothing essentially “leftwing” about his analysis. Consumers will not spend because of a backlog of indebtedness and businesses will not invest because of pessimism about market prospects. Central banks can inject money, but there is a limit to what they can do when nominal interest rates are near zero.
The Land That Fracking Forgot
Roben Farzad, Businessweek - Four years ago, as the economy was entering a devastating recession, swaths of rural Pennsylvania were booming. Energy companies were using hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, to tap the vast natural gas reserves of the Marcellus Shale underlying much of the Keystone State. In Wayne County, these corporations offered struggling farmers lucrative leases for mineral rights.
Jobs Tracker Holds Steady
David Leonhardt, NY Times – This week’s economic data have brought few surprises, and The New York Times weekly jobs tracker shows no change [...] But the economic data since last Friday’s disappointing jobs report, including this morning’s report on jobless claims, have not been as bad as the jobs report was. Economists still expect job growth to accelerate in June.
Three Top Fed Members Say New Action to Help Economy May Be Needed
Zachary A. Goldfarb, Washington Post - Three top members of the Federal Reserve said the central bank may have to take a fresh look at additional measures to stimulate economic growth amid a weakening in the U.S. economy and renewed threats from Europe.
Are Housewives To Blame For The Plight Of Working Women?
Meghan Casserly, Forbes - In the paper “Marriage Structure And The Gender Revolution In The Workplace,” researchers illustrate how employed men with stay-at-home wives tend to “exhibit attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that undermine the role of women in the workplace.” Among other things, they have a negative view of the very presence of women in the office, large percentages of female employees and female leaders.
