Monday, December 23, 2013

In the Water, In the Air: Monday, December 23, 2013.


ECONOMICS 101
Capitalism’s Enigma And Its Future: How the West Grew Rich (Donald Devine, The Federalist -- Economics, 12/23).
How America abandoned its “undeserving” poor "With poverty on the rise in the late 1970s, Reagan conservatives waged war on the needy — and won" (Michael B. Katz, Salon, 12/21).
Market Wisdom Replaced By Political Force (Frank Macchiarola and Michael Macchiarola, RealClearMarkets, 12/23).
THE NATURE OF POLITICS
No Man for Himself, And The Devil Take Most: American people vs. American government (David Corbin and Matt Parks, The Federalist, 12/21).
Don’t Mistake This for Gridlock (Tyler Cowen, The New York Times -- Business Day, 12/21).
REVENUE-SIDE REFORM
Unmasking the Mortgage Interest Deduction: Who Benefits and by How Much? 2013 Update (Dean Stansel and Anthony Randazzo, Reason Foundation, 12/18).
2013 Tax Cut Roundup (American Legislative Exchange Council, November 2013*).
Ultra-Wealthy Dodge Billions in Taxes Using "GRAT" Loophole (citizens for Tax Justice, 12/20).
SPENDING-SIDE REFORM
Lessons from Dutch Welfare Reform (Michael D. Tanner, Cato Institute -- Cato at Liberty, 12/17).
Obama signs order for federal worker pay raises in 2014 (Ros Krasny, Yahoo! News -- Canada, 12/23 [visited]).
The Importance of Unemployment Insurance for American Families & the Economy: Take 2 (Melissa S. Kearney and Benjamin Harris, The Hamilton Project, December 2013*).
MIXED-SIDE AND REGULATORY REFORM
Would Increasing the Minimum Wage Create Jobs? "A few liberals say so. But even if they're right, the effect would be small and short-lived." (Jordan Weissman, The Atlantic, 12/20).
Why the US needs big banks (Richard X. Bove, New York Post -- Opinion, 12/21).
GROWTH AND JOBS
 A Christmas Wish: A Less Debt-Obsessed GOP "Our long-term debt is daunting, but jobs are a more pressing problem."  (James Pethokoukis, National Review Online, 12/23).
MOBILITY AND EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY
Obama's Misguided Obsession With Inequality "He uses statistics that ignore taxes and transfer payments. Faster growth is what the poor really need." (Robert E. Grady, The Wall Street Journal -- Opinion, 12/22).
Inequality for Dummies (Bill Keller, The New York Times -- The Opinion Pages, 12/22).
Obama is right to put spotlight on economic inequality "Virtually every economic problem we have today — slow growth, high unemployment, low social mobility — is both a manifestation and a cause of economic inequality." (Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times -- Business, 12/22).
GOVERNMENT FINANCE AND FINANCIAL POLICY
Too Convoluted to Succeed "Why Dodd-Frank won’t prevent another financial crisis" (Nicole Gelinas, City Journal, Autumn 2013*).
The Federal Reserve at 100: Age shall not weary her "America’s central bank has become ever more powerful over the past century" (The Economist, 12/21).
Bits and Barbarism (Paul Krugman, The New York Times -- The Opinion Pages, 12/22).
At 100, the Fed Can't Do Much to Revive the Economy (Robert Samuelson, RealClearMarkets, 12/23).
GLOBAL ECONOMY [-- GLOBAL CURRENCY |-- InsertCountryHere |-- InsertRegionHere]
Japan Doubles Down on ASEAN "Tokyo has had a busy year reaching out to ASEAN countries. Will the effort continue in 2014?" (J. Berkshire Miller, The Diplomat, 12/23).
Merry Christmas, Europe -- You've Been Downgraded (Alex Berezow, RealClearWorld -- The Compass, 12/23).
Why the elites are rising up (Jackson Diehl, The Washington Post -- WP Opinions, 12/22).
A Union of Banks "The European Banking Union will not increase governments’ regulatory power over the bloated banking sector. It is just another promise to banks that they will certainly be helped in times of crisis." (Juliane Mendelsohn, The European -- Columns, 12/20).
Worries About the World Economy in 2014 (David Dapice, RealClearWorld, 12/23).

Thursday, December 19, 2013

In the Water, In the Air: Thursday, December 19, 2013


FISCAL FOLLIES -- DECEMBER 2013 CONTINUING RESOLUTION
How the budget deal helps Obama (John Podhoretz, New York Post, 12/17).
And the budget winner is ... the defense sector (Andrew Cockburn, Los Angeles Times -- Opinion, 12/20).
John Boehner’s Betrayal (Jenny Beth Martin, The New York Times -- The Opinion Pages, 12/19).
The 5 Biggest Myths About The Budget Deal (Stan Collender, stan collender's capital gains and games, 12/18).
Two and a Half Cheers for Ryan-Murray (Peter Ferrera, The American Spectator, 12/18).
FISCAL FOLLIES -- FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014 DEBT LIMIT
Lew warns Congress of February debt ceiling deadline (Reuters, CNBC -- Economy, 12/19).
The GOP's Phony Debt-Ceiling Threats (Joshua Green, Bloomberg Businessweek, 12/18).
DEFICITS AND DEBT
2013 Was the Year the Grand Bargain Died. Good Riddance. (Mark Schmitt, New Republic, 12/19).
ECONOMIC REPORTS
Jobless claims unexpectedly jump to highest level since March (Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times -- Business, 12/19).
Housing, jobs data weaken, but overall economic picture still upbeat (Lucia Mutikani, Reuters, 12/19).
Richard Florida, Mr. Creative Class, Is Now Mr. Rust Belt (Alec MacGillis, New Republic -- Cities, 12/18).
Chart Book: Federal Housing Spending Is Poorly Matched to Need (Will Fischer and Barbara Sard, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 12/18).
This Is The Most Important Chart Of 2013 (Matthew Boesler, Business Insider, 12/19).
Teaching the market monetarists about money (John Carney, CNBC -- NetNet, 12/18).
THE NATURE OF POLITICS
A More Machiavellian World than Ever (Gianni Riotta, RealClearWorld, 12/19).
REVENUE-SIDE REFORM
White House Tax Plan Would Be Grinch For Blue State Charity (Howard Husock, Forbes, 12/18).
Income Tax Deductions for Sales Taxes: A Step Away from Tax Fairness (Citizens for Tax Justice, 12/17).
America needs the Fair Tax, not more fiddling with the tax code (Robert C. McNair, Washington Examiner, 12/18).
Mortgage Interest Deduction Saves Middle Class Taxpayers All Of $51/Month (Anthony Randazzo and Dean Stansel, Forbes, 12/18).
Slammed by New Taxes: Why You’re Poorer Than You Think (David Koeppel, The Fiscal Times, 12/19).
SPENDING-SIDE REFORM
Is the West retiring early retirement? (Robert J. Samuelson, The Washington Post -- WP Opinions, 12/18).
The conservative contempt for the working person shows through (Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times -- Business, 12/18).
MIXED-SIDE AND REGULATORY REFORM
A Tax on Employing Poor People (Robert VerBruggen, RealClearPolicy, 12/18).
GSE Reform: FHFA Should Not Pursue Mortgage Principal Reduction Alternatives (John L. Ligon, Norbert J. Michel, Ph.D. and filip Jolevski, The Heritage Foundation, 12/17).
Don’t Get Too Excited About the Volcker Rule (William Greider, The Nation, 12/12).
GOVERNMENT FINANCE AND FINANCIAL POLICY
Fed 'taper lite' not a moment too soon (The Editorial Board, USA Today, 12/18).
‘Taper’ a bow, Ben (John Crudele, New York Post -- Business, 12/18).
Shiller on Trills (Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution, 12/19).
Fed taper begins—what happens next? (Mohamed El-Erian, CNBC -- The Fed, 12/18).
Gridlock, Fed Taper Say Keynesian Experiment Ending (IBD Editorial, Investors.com, 12/18).
The Fed’s case for tapering is a good sign for the economy (Editorial Board, The Washington Post -- WP Opinions, 12/18).
Bernanke Leaves Yellen With a Massive Migraine (Peter Schiff, RealClearMarkets, 12/19).
Why Do So Many People Hate QE? (Barry Ritholtz, Bloomberg -- Opinion, 12/19).
PUBLIC PENSIONS
NYC’s coming pension crisis (Michael Bloomberg, Daily News, 12/19).


Wednesday, December 18, 2013

In the Water, In the Air: Wednesday, December 18, 2013.



FISCAL FOLLIES -- DECEMBER 2013 CONTINUING RESOLUTION
We Just Got One Step Closer to a Budget Deal -- But Now I Need Your Help (Senator Patty Murray, The Huffington Post -- Huff Post Politics, 12/17).
D.C. gets the vapors, calls sequester too much (Charles Hurt, The Washington Times, 12/17).
Budget Bill Passes, Is Headed to President's Desk (Caitlin Huey-Burns, RealClearPolitics, 12/18).
FISCAL FOLLIES -- FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014 DEBT LIMIT
Republicans Compromise on the Budget, but Don’t Expect Them To Compromise on the Debt Ceiling (Eleanor Clift, The Daily Beast -- Politics, 12/18).
ECONOMIC REPORTS
Welfare Rules Databook: State TANF Policies as of July 2012 (David Kassabian, Erika Huber, Elissa Cohan and Linda Giannarelli, Urban Institute, 12/13).
Spending Patterns of Families Receiving Means-tested Government Assistance (Ann C. Foster and William R. Hawk, United States Department of Labor -- Bureau of Labor Statistics -- Beyond the Numbers, December 2013).
ECONOMICS 101
Productivity Up, Future Uncertain (Walter Russell Mead, The American Interest, 12/16).
THE NATURE OF POLITICS
The Next President Won’t Save Us (James Poulos, The Daily Beast -- Politics, 12/18).
REVENUE-SIDE REFORM
Income Tax Deductions for Sales Taxes: A Step Away from Tax Fairness (Citizens for Tax Justice, 12/17).
SPENDING-SIDE REFORM
Is the Safety Net Just Masking Tape? (Thomas B. Edsall, The New York Times -- The Opinion Pages, 12/17).
MIXED-SIDE AND REGULATORY REFORM
Subsidizing Rich and Poor: There are better ways to help workers than the minimum wage (Ike Brannon, The Weekly Standard, 12/23).
What You Missed Amid the Volcker Rule's Finalization (Hester Peirce, RealClearMarkets, 12/18).
MOBILITY AND EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY
Inequality Does Not Matter: The poor and the middle class are falling behind, and it has nothing to do with the 1 percent (Kevin D. Williamson, National Review Online, 12/18).
Of 'Equality' and Other Ancient Frauds: The futility of income redistribution (William Murchison, The American Spectator, 12/17).
Obama Is Trying to Fix Inequality by Hiring the Same Hacks Who Caused It (Robert Scheer, The Nation, 12/17).
GOVERNMENT FINANCE AND FINANCIAL POLICY
Fed to taper bond buying by $10 billion a month (JeeYeon Park, CNBC -- The Fed, 12/18).
The Fed should stop the easy money (Chicago Tribune -- Editorials, 12/16).
Fed to Start Unwinding Its Stimulus Next Month (Binyamin Appelbaum, The New York Times -- Business Day Economy, 12/18).
QE: The greatest subsidy to the rich ever? (Robert Frank, CNBC -- Inside Wealth, 12/18).
What Fed tapering means for you: Why investors aren’t the only ones who will feel the pinch (Quentin Fottrell, MarketWatch, 12/18).
The Bernanke Fed's Transparency Has Been Rather Opaque (Joao Gomes, RealClearMarkets, 12/18).
What the Fed meeting could mean for the dollar (Dhara Ranasinghe, CNBC -- Currencies, 12/17).
Fed Monetary Policy Can't Solve Our Economic Ills (William Poole, Investors.com -- Viewpoint, 12/17).
Three reasons the Fed should taper QE3 (Rex Nutting, MarketWatch, 12/17).
LOCAL GOVERNMENT BANKRUPTCY -- DETROIT
Moody's lowers N.J. debt outlook to negative, citing slow recovery (Salvador Rizzo, NJ.com, 12/17).
Who’s Really To Blame for Detroit’s Financial Problems? (David Sirota, In These Times, 12/13).
PUBLIC PENSIONS
Deadbeat Governments (James Surowiecki, The New Yorker -- The Financial Page, 12/23).
GLOBAL ECONOMY
Putin's Conservative State Capitalism (Anders Aslund, The Moscow Times, 12/17).
SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
Earth’s Quietest Place Will Drive You Crazy in 45 Minutes (Smithsonian.com, 12/17).
The Secret of Comedy Really Is Timing (Tom Jacobs, Pacific Standard, 12/17).
Endless fun: The question is not whether we can upload our brains onto a computer, but what will become of us when we do (Michael Graziano, aeon magazine, 12/18).

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

In the Water, In the Air: Tuesday, December 17, 2013.


FISCAL FOLLIES -- DECEMBER 2013 CONTINUING RESOLUTION
Senate GOP fails in final bid to restore military pension cuts to budget bill (Fox News -- Politics, 12/17).
Disabled Military Retirees Not Exempt from Pension Cuts in Budget Deal (Elizabeth Harrington, The Washington Free Beacon, 12/17).
Section-By-Section Analysis Of The Bipartisan Budget Act Of 2013 (United States Senate Committee on the Budget -- Republicans, 12/16).
Spending Caps Have Worked, but Ryan-Murray Budget Would Lift Them (Romina Boccia and Michael Sargent, The Foundry, 12/16).
Unemployment Benefits Are Ending for 1.3 Million Americans. What's That All About? (Erika Eichelberger, Mother Jones, 12/17).
ECONOMIC REPORTS
How Britain Returned to Growth (George Osborne, The Wall Street Journal -- Opinion, 12/16).
Economic Freedom and Labor Market Conditions: Evidence from the States (Lauren R. Heller and E. Frank Stephenson, Wiley Online Library, 07/01).
ECONOMICS 101
How Pope Francis Misunderstands the Free Market (Ramesh Ponnuru, Bloomberg -- Opinion, 12/16).
Why conservatives just don't get Pope Francis' anti-poverty crusade (Elizabeth Stoker, The Week, 12/17).
SPENDING-SIDE REFORM
Why do we even need a farm bill? (Charles, The Washington Post -- WP Opinions, 12/16).
Government Blatantly Wastes $30 Billion This Year (Brianna Ehley, The Fiscal Times -- Policy + Politics, 12/17).
"Wastebook" report singles out $30B in federal spending (CBS News -- CBS This Morning, 12/17).
MIXED-SIDE AND REGULATORY REFORM
Low Import Duty Trigger Puts U.S. at a Disadvantage (Philip Finiello, Free Enterprise, 12/16).
It’s Not OK That Your Employees Can’t Afford to Eat (Peter Cappelli, Harvard Business Review -- HBR Blog Network, 12/16).
Making Financial Regulation AntiFragile (Todd Zywicki, Library of Law and Liberty, 12/17*).
First Volcker Victim? Zions Dumping Its Hedge Funds (Matt Levine, Bloomberg, 12/16).
GROWTH AND JOBS
Blame Congress for unemployment (Duncan Black, USA Today, 12/17).
MOBILITY AND EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY
How the Inequality/Growth Debate Has Evolved Over Time (On the Economy -- Jared Bernstein Blog, 12/16).
The Case for Worrying About Inequality is Still Overstated (Scott Winship, e21, 12/16).
Who’s Really Waging the Class War? (Bill Moyers, The Nation, 12/12).
GOVERNMENT FINANCE AND FINANCIAL POLICY
Taper or no taper, the Fed will never end QE: Marc Faber (Alex Rosenberg, CNBC, 12/17).
The Stupidest (and most prominent) QE Chart in the World (Cullen Roche, Pragmatic Capitalism, 12/17).
The Fed might taper bond buying this week. Here’s everything you need to know. (Neil Irwin, The Washington Post -- Wonkblog, 12/16).
Why a Fed taper will be good for the economy (Sanjay Sanghoee, CNN Money, 12/17).
LOCAL GOVERNMENT BANKRUPTCY
How One Mayor Pulled Back His City From Potential Bankruptcy (Emily Badger, National Journal, 12/16).
 GLOBAL ECONOMY
India’s Aspirational Volcano (Roger Cohen, The New York Times -- The Opinion Pages, 12/16).

Monday, December 16, 2013

In the Water, In the Air: Monday, December 16, 2013.


FISCAL FOLLIES -- DECEMBER 2013 CONTINUING RESOLUTION
In budget deal, a secret reward for Dems (Erik Wasson, The Hill, 12/15).
Budget deal shows the GOP has PTSD (Marc A. Thiessen, The Washington Post / WP Opinions, 12/16).
Budget Deal Faces Uncertain Senate Vote Tuesday (Caitlin Huey-Burns, RealClearPolitics, 12/16).
The Budget Deal Stabilizes Nothing (Gene Epstein, Barron's / Economic Beat, 12/14).
Boehner’s budget good step for GOP future (Linda Chaves, New York Post, 12/13).
Budget deal is just a start (Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, Los Angeles Times / Opinion, 12/13).
DEFICITS AND DEBT
Sequester May Have "Governed By Crisis" But It Worked (Editorial, Investors.com, 12/13).
For Paul Ryan And The Republicans, Tomorrow Is The Day That Never Comes (John Tamny, Forbes, 12/15).
FACTION
Nostalgia for the ‘Do-Nothing’ Congress (Albert R. Hunt, Bloomberg / Opinion, 12/15).
ECONOMIC REPORTS
Happy days are here again, and we can thank Obama (Tom Keane, The Boston Globe / Opinion, 12/15).
Do you trust the November jobs report? (Wayne Allyn Root, MarketWatch, 12/16).
ECONOMICS 101
What the Rest Really Should Learn From the West (Pankaj Mishra, Bloomberg / Opinion, 12/15).
THE NATURE OF POLITICS
The Question at the Heart of the Democratic Schism Should the burden of proof be on reformers—or on vested interests? (Noam Scheiber, New Republic, 12/15).
Why Banking Systems Succeed -- And Fail: The Politics Behind Financial Institutions (Charles W. Calomiris and Stephen H. Haber, Foreign Affairs, Nov/Dec 2013).
REVENUE-SIDE REFORM
Tax reformers see hope in budget deal (Bernie Becker, The Hill, 12/15).
MIXED-SIDE AND REGULATORY REFORM
The Volcker Rule: Wins, Losses and Toss-ups (Alexis Goldstein, The Nation, 12/13).
MOBILITY AND EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY
Why Inequality Matters (Paul Krugman, The New York Times / Opinion Pages, 12/15).
A Dozen Facts about America's Struggling Lower-Middle Class (The Hamilton Project, December 2013).
Ezra Klein Misses the Mark: Inequality and Unemployment Are the Same Problem (Center for Economic and Policy Research, 12/14).
We Are Not All in This Together (Shamus Khan, The New York Times / The Opinion Pages, 12/14).
GOVERNMENT FINANCE AND FINANCIAL POLICY
Lawrence Summers: Stagflation is not our fate — unless we let it be (Lawrence Summers, The Washington Post / WP Opinions, 12/15).
Has the Fed Been Fueling Bubbles? You Be the Judge (Josh Boak, RealClear, 12/16).
PUBLIC PENSIONS
Deadbeat Governments (James Surowiecki, The New Yorker / The Financial Page, 12/23).
GLOBAL ECONOMY -- JAPAN
Yen to decline by ‘whatever it takes’ to awaken Japan (David Marsh, MarketWatch, 12/16).
GLOBAL ECONOMY -- GERMANY
Germany’s Coming Downgrade (Sylvester Eijffinger and Edin Mujagic, Project Syndicate, 12/16).
GLOBAL ECONOMY -- MEXICO
North America to Drown in Oil as Mexico Ends Monopoly (Joe Carroll and Bradley Olson, Bloomberg / Sustainability, 12/16).
GLOBAL ECONOMY -- THAILAND
Them Ol'middle class Bangkokian blues (Voranai Vanijaka, Bangkok Post / Opinion, 12/15).

Friday, December 13, 2013

In the Water, In the Air: Friday, December 13, 2013.


FISCAL FOLLIES -- DECEMBER 2013 CONTINUING RESOLUTION
Budget deal doesn’t alter grim long-term picture (Editorial Board, U-T San Diego, 12/12).
Twilight of the Sequester (Fred Barnes, The Weekly Standard, 12/13*).
The Republican Mainstream Strikes Back (Eugene Robinson, RealClearPolitics, 12/13).
The Biggest Losers (Paul Krugman, The New York Times, 12/12).
The Budget Deal: A Beginning or the End? (Robert Bixby, The Concord Coalition / The (Tab)ulation, 12/12).
There could be happy green news hidden in the budget deal (Ben Adler, Grist, 12/12).
Don’t Be Fooled: The Murray/Ryan Budget Deal Clearly Raises Taxes (Sean Davis, The Federalist, 12/12).
How Paul Ryan Won the Budget War—in 1 Chart (Matthew O'Brien, The Atlantic, 12/13).
ECONOMIC REPORTS
The Most Pro-Capitalism Place to Live in North America Is… (Dan Mitchell, International Liberty, 12/13).
Will 2014 Finally, Really, Truly Bring an End to the Financial Crisis? (Michael Schuman, Time / Business & Money, 12/13).
THE NATURE OF POLITICS
96 Percent Of Americans Are Wrong About Congress (Ezra Klein, The Federalist, 12/13).
How the States Committed Suicide (Paul Moreno, RealClearPolicy, 12/13).
SPENDING-SIDE REFORM
Short Term Farm Bill Extension: Congress Could Do Worse (Christine Harbin Hanson, Americans for Prosperity, 12/12).
Job Protection Isn’t Enough: Why America Needs Paid Parental Leave (Heather Boushey, Jane Farrell and John Schmitt, Center for American Progress, 12/12).
MIXED-SIDE AND REGULATORY REFORM
Here’s how big the left wants to grow government, exactly. And here’s how much it will cost, exactly (James Pethokoukis, AEIdeas, 12/13).
Why the Volcker Rule Will Harm the U.S. Economy (Peter J. Wallison, The American, 12/13).
GROWTH AND JOBS
Americans Won't Be Easily Reassured About the Economy (Charlie Cook, National Journal, 12/12).
GOVERNMENT FINANCE AND FINANCIAL POLICY
This is the biggest mistake people are making about QE now (John Carney, CNBC, 12/13).
What will tapering do to Treasuries? (Daryl Jones, CNN Money, 12/12).
Contempt and Elitism Brought Us the Fed and QE (Jeffrey Snider, RealClearMarkets, 12/13).
LOCAL GOVERNMENT BANKRUPTCY -- DETROIT
3 essential (and ignored) questions about Detroit’s bankruptcy (David Sirota, Salon, 12/12).

PUBLIC PENSIONS
Cheaper pensions: How the math works for employees (Steve Malanga, Public Sector Inc., 12/12).
GLOBAL ECONOMY -- CHINA
This Chinese revolution would change the world (Jeremy Warner, The Telegraph, 12/12).

Thursday, December 12, 2013

In the Water, In the Air: Thursday, December 12, 2013.


FISCAL FOLLIES -- DECEMBER 2013 CONTINUING RESOLUTION
John Boehner: Conservative Groups' Reaction to Budget Deal Is 'Ridiculous' (Matt Berman, National Journal, 12/11).
Dems threaten budget deal (Vicki Needham, Mike Lillis and Bernie Becker, The Hill, 12/11).
Budget Deal Is Better Than Nothing for Weakened Obama (Steven T. Dennis, Roll Call, 12/11).
Republicans Get the Better End of the Budget Deal (Megan McArdle, Bloomberg, 12/11).
House approves budget deal, handing major victory to Boehner (Erik Wasson Russell Berman, The Hill, 12/12).
Bipartisan Budget Deal Puts Ryan Under Fire From Fellow Conservatives (Jonathan Weisman, The New York Times, 12/11).
House Passes Budget Bill to Increase Spending, Reverse Some Automatic Cuts (Charlotte Alter, Time / Swampland, 12/12).
Pelosi on budget deal: ‘Embrace the suck’ (Geoff Earle, The New York Post, 12/12).
Durbin: We need GOP votes for deal (Alexander Bolton, The Hill, 12/12).
Republicans and Tea Party Activists in 'Full Scale Civil War' (Abby D. Phillip, ABC News, 12/12).
John Boehner: Conservative Groups Have 'Lost All Credibility' (Matt Berman, National Journal, 12/12).
The Budget Deal and Defense (Max Boot, Commentary, 12/11).
Conservatives are right to be skeptical of Ryan-Murray budget deal (Philip Klein, The Washington Examiner, 12/11).
In budget deal, Republicans buck the purity police (Dana Milbank, The Washington Post / WP Opinions, 12/11).
 A Firm Step Forward (Paul Ryan, National Review Online, 12/11).
The Budget Deal Is a Win for Democrats (Noam Scheiber, New Republic, 12/11).
Budget deal averts crisis; does little else (Editorial, The Detroit News, 12/12).
The Minimalist Budget Deal (The Editorial Board, The New York Times, 12/11).
What is the Impact of the Defense Sequester on the Economy? (Steve Bell, Shai Akabas, Brian Collins and Alex Gold, Bipartisan Policy Center, 12/11).
Heritage Expert Analysis on the Ryan–Murray Budget Deal (Romina Boccia, The Foundary, 12/11).
CBO Score - Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 (Congressional Budget Office, 12/11).
ATR Analysis of Budget Proposal (Ryan Ellis and Mattie Duppler, Americans for Tax Reform, 12/11).
The Budget Agreement Should Cut Federal Employee Pay, But Not Like This (Josh Barro, Business Insider, 12/11).
A Cruel, Irresponsible and Dysfunctional Budget Deal (John Nichols, The Nation, 12/10).
The Murray-Ryan Budget Deal and the Slow Death of Public Investment (Ben Harris, RealClearMarkets, 12/12).
Ideologues Shouldn’t Torpedo Budget Truce (Jonathan S. Tobin, Commentary, 12/11).
Paul Ryan Gave Away the Sequester, Along With Fiscal Discipline (Wayne Brough, RealClearMarkets, 12/12).
Another Republican budget surrender (Matt Kibbe, The Washington Times, 12/11).
DEFICITS AND DEBT
This Is the Golden Age of Deficit Reduction (Daniel Gross, The Daily Beast, 12/12).
THE STUDY OF LAW
Over-criminalization undermines respect for legal system (John G. Malcolm and Norman L. Reimer, The Washington Times, 12/11).
REVENUE-SIDE REFORM
The Tax Draft Of Sen. Max Baucus Amounts To Legalized Wealth Confiscation (Scott A. Hodge, Forbes, 12/11).
SPENDING-SIDE REFORM
The Gush of Subsidies and the College Wonderfall (Adam C. Smith, RealClearPolicy, 12/12).
MIXED-SIDE AND REGULATORY REFORM
Real Family Values: Raising the Federal Minimum Wage (Jack Jenkins, Center for American Progress, 12/10).
GROWTH AND JOBS
An Economic Detective Story: Solving the Mystery of Unexpectedly Strong U.S. GDP Growth (Political Calculations, 12/12).
World Led by U.S. Poised for Fastest Growth Since 2010 (Rich Miller and Simon Kennedy, Bloomberg / Personal Finance, 12/12).
GOVERNMENT FINANCE AND FINANCIAL POLICY
Will the market actually cheer tapering? (Jesse Solomon, CNN Money, 12/12).
GLOBAL ECONOMY -- CHINA
China’s Shadow Currency (Matthew Lowenstein, The Diplomat, 12/12).
GLOBAL ECONOMY -- BRITAIN
Britain's negotiating hand in Europe has never been as strong before (Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The Telegraph, 12/11).
GLOBAL ECONOMY -- WTO
The WTO Is Back -- for Now (Jean-Pierre Lehmann, RealClearWorld, 12/12).
GLOBAL ECONOMY -- JAPAN
Abenomics’ half success (Editorial, Korea JoongAng Daily, 12/11).
Japan's Morally Troubled Revival (Robert Kaplan, RealClearWorld, 12/12).
GLOBAL ECONOMY -- IRELAND
Hardships Linger for a Mending Ireland (Liz Alderman, The New York Times, 12/11).