16 | October | 2012

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

2012: The year of the housing recovery, updates

Mark J. Perry | October 16, 2012, 9:29 pm

1. The National Association of Home Builders released its monthly report today on home builder confidence for October, and the Housing Market Index (HMI) increased by one-point this month to 41, the highest level in more than six years, since June … read more >

Foreign and Defense Policy, Europe and Russia

Flemish election results: Europe in a nutshell

Stan Veuger | October 16, 2012, 4:31 pm

Yesterday’s local elections in Flanders may foreshadow a broader European development: Lingering unhappiness about an uneasy and unnatural coexistence between North and South. read more >

Pethokoukis

Is this an unusually terrible recovery or isn’t it?

James Pethokoukis | October 16, 2012, 3:59 pm

The economic recovery that began in the summer of 2009 has been marked by slow economic growth and little job creation. But how does it compare to recoveries throughout U.S. economic history? Economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff say the recovery’s … read more >

Carpe Diem

Markets in everything: Maid service for the masses

Mark J. Perry | October 16, 2012, 3:35 pm

“Adora Cheung, co-founder and CEO of Pathjoy, said her goal is to make maid service “ubiquitous” — a basic service for a broad audience, rather than a luxury for the rich.” Find out more here at Tech Crunch.

Image Credit: Maxintosh (Flickr) (CC BY 2.0)

Politics and Public Opinion, Elections

Debate questions from college students

Karin Agness | October 16, 2012, 3:31 pm

Last week, I asked college students: “If you were given the opportunity to ask the presidential candidates a question at the next debate, what would your question be?” I heard from many Millennials concerned about the economy, jobs, and student … read more >

Image Credit: Bruce Fingerhood (Flickr) (CC BY 2.0)

Economics

Why Amtrak loses money

Andrew Biggs | October 16, 2012, 3:00 pm

How do you lose $85 million per year selling $9.50 cheeseburgers, as Amtrak reportedly has? One way is to pay Amtrak employees 19 percent more in salaries and benefits than comparable private sector workers. read more >

Carpe Diem

Quotation of the day: Steven Landsburg on the Nobel prize

Mark J. Perry | October 16, 2012, 2:36 pm

“So Alvin Roth wins the Nobel Prize for, among other things, figuring out the best way to allocate kidneys subject to the constraint that you’re too damned dumb to use the price system. Next up: A Nobel prize in medicine … read more >

Image credit: Biden_Obama (Wikimedia Commons)

Foreign and Defense Policy

Obama’s Syrian ‘Fast and Furious’

Marc Thiessen | October 16, 2012, 1:49 pm

Imagine if the Obama administration participated in the creation of an arms pipeline to al Qaeda in Syria – a “Fast and Furious” program running Saudi and Qatari weapons to our terrorist enemies in the Middle East. Then imagine that … read more >

Carpe Diem

Energy fact of the day: US will produce 83% of energy consumed this year, up from 78% in 2008

Mark J. Perry | October 16, 2012, 12:44 pm

Graphic is from a BloombergBusinessWeek article with this commentary: “New drilling techniques unlocked vast reserves unreachable just a few years ago. Oil and natural gas production in the U.S. is increasing at its fastest rate in 50 years, while imports … read more >

Economics, Energy and the Environment

Another ‘green-tech’ company goes belly up

Kenneth P. Green | October 16, 2012, 11:47 am

In a move that will come as a surprise to pretty much no one, “Advanced” battery maker A123 (which has posted losses for 14 consecutive quarters) has filed for bankruptcy. read more >