30 | May | 2012

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

The American Staffing Association’s (ASA) Staffing Index for temporary employment activity rose to 94 last week, which was the highest index reading for Week 21 since 2008 when the index was also 94. It’s just several points below the 96 … read more >

Economics

Goldman Sachs: U.S. headed for a decade of anemic, European-level growth

James Pethokoukis | May 30, 2012, 4:58 pm

This table from Goldman Sachs pretty well sums up America’s current and future problems. From 1981-2000, the U.S. economy grew at a snappy pace of about 3.4%. Then it downshifted to 1.6%—including the Great Recession—from 2001-2010. And from 2011-2020, GS … read more >

Economics, U.S. Economy

The EU, the euro, and unintended consequences

James Pethokoukis | May 30, 2012, 4:12 pm

Martin Feldstein ably describes how it all went so wrong: The crisis in the eurozone is the result of France’s persistent pursuit of the “European project,” the goal of political unification that began after World War II when two leading … read more >

Economics, U.S. Economy

EuroCrisis 2012: How we get from here to a global depression

James Pethokoukis | May 30, 2012, 3:56 pm

If you’re wondering about the sequence of events leading to a catastrophic euro endgame, Forbes columnist Harry Dent does a good job outlining them: The big problem from our view is Spain, partially because it is too big to fail … read more >

Foreign and Defense Policy

Tibetan self-immolation protests spread to the heart of Chinese administrative control

John VerWey | May 30, 2012, 3:51 pm

For the first time since a wave of self-immolations began sweeping across China’s Tibetan area in March 2011, two men set themselves on fire outside of a Buddhist temple in the heavily policed regional capital of Lhasa over the weekend. … read more >

Economics

Nancy Pelosi tells us how to grow the U.S. economy

James Pethokoukis | May 30, 2012, 3:22 pm

House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi: America’s middle class — families, workers and small businesses — deserves economic stability and certainty. That is why Democrats have called on House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to set an immediate vote on extension … read more >

Carpe Diem

Markets in Everything. Or Not. No More Gender Based Price Discrimination in New York City

Mark J. Perry | May 30, 2012, 2:03 pm

WSJ — “In New York City, 38 businesses have been hit this year for violating a little-known provision that has many pulling their hair: gender-pricing discrimination. The majority of violations so far this year—103—were issued to salons and barbershops. The … read more >

Economics

What the record-low yield on the 10-year Treasury bond doesn’t mean

James Pethokoukis | May 30, 2012, 12:09 pm

CNBC: The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note fell to its lowest level on record Wednesday, as continuing fears about some euro zone countries’ ability to service their debt kept demand for U.S. fixed-income assets firm. Yields on 10-year notes … read more >

Economics, Energy and the Environment

Like cloud computing? Learn to like conventional power generation

Kenneth P. Green | May 30, 2012, 11:33 am

Over at the Wall Street Journal, indefatigable energy analyst Robert Bryce offers up some sobering data regarding how much power we’re consuming with our new “cloud” technologies, such as social networking, cloud storage, smart phones, etc. A few highlights: • … read more >

Foreign and Defense Policy, India

India ups the ante in carbon trade war

Claude Barfield | May 30, 2012, 11:21 am

I can’t claim we timed this, but a day after the May 24 AEI session, “The First Carbon Trade War,” India vowed to ban European airlines from its airspace if the EU didn’t back down on its decision to penalize … read more >