In the Water, In the Air: Tuesday, December 10, 2013.

FISCAL FOLLIES -- DECEMBER 2013 CONTINUING RESOLUTION

Budget deal is sealed (Russell Berman, Erik Wasson and Mike Lillis, The Hill, 12/10).

House, Senate negotiators reach budget deal (Lori Montgomery, The Washington Post, 12/10).

DEFICITS AND DEBT

Five Good Ideas for a Budget Deal (FixGov blog / Brookings Institution, RealClearPolicy, 12/09).

ECONOMIC REPORTS

Is This Time Different? The Slowdown in Healthcare Spending (Amitabh Chandra, Jonathan Holmes and Jonathan Skinner, The National Bureau of Economic Research, 12/11).

Why has the US recovery been so slow? This chart suggests it’s not because of Obamanomics (James Pethokoukis, AEIdeas, 12/11).

Bailing out General Motors cost the US government $11 billion and it was worth every penny (Tim Fernholz, Quartz, 12/10).

Why the Rent Feels Too Damn High—in 1 Graph (Jordan Weissmann, The Atlantic, 12/09).

More Americans are stuck in housing purgatory (Nin-Hai Tseng, CNN Money, 12/10).

Why Is Everybody Sitting on Huge Piles of Cash? (Barry Ritholtz, Bloomberg, 12/10).

ECONOMICS 101

Health Care's Third-Party Spending Trap: Contrary to "conventional wisdom," health insurance—private or otherwise—does not make health care more affordable (Jeffrey A. Singer, Reason.com, 12/10).

THE NATURE OF POLITICS

Why Machiavelli Still Matters (John T. Scott and Robert Zaretsky, The New York Times, 12/09).

REVENUE-SIDE REFORM

Paying for “Tax Extenders” Would Shrink Projected Increase in Debt Ratio by One-Third (Chuck Marr and Nathaniel Frentz, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 12/09).

Expiring State and Local Tax Deduction: State Impact (Jeremy Ratner, The Pew Charitable Trusts, 12/09*).

ATR Supports Permanent End to Annual Medicare Doctor Bailout (Ryan Ellis, Americans for Tax Reform, 12/09).

SPENDING-SIDE REFORM

Rep. Tim Griffin — Standing Athwart ‘Pacman’ Yelling ‘Stop’ (Andrew Stiles, Doublethink Online, 12/09).

MIXED-SIDE AND REGULATORY REFORM

Republicans Are Right: Obamacare Is Redistribution (Jonathan Cohn, New Republic, 12/09).

Mandating higher minimum wage will hurt employees and economy (Steve Caldeira, The Hill, 12/09).

The Minimum Wage Ain’t What It Used to Be (David Neumark, Economix / The New York Times, 12/09).

Raise the Federal Minimum Wage (But Not Too Far) (Richard Posner, The Becker-Posner Blog, 12/08).

How to Really Rein in the Banks (Hester Peirce, US News & World Report, 12/09).

If We're Lucky Volcker Rule Will Make Banks Less Transparent (Matt Levine, Bloomberg, 12/09).

Will the Volcker Rule crush Goldman Sachs? (Stephen Gandel, CNN Money, 12/09).

Volcker Rule Is a Puzzle That Will Take Years to Understand (Rana Foroohar, Time / Business & Money, 12/10).

GROWTH AND JOBS

Obama can't solve the jobs problem (Glenn Harlan Reynolds, USA Today, 12/09).

How to Keep Workers Unemployed (The Wall Street Journal, 12/11).

The Real Jobless Rate (Gene Epstein, Barron's, 12/07).

Sorry Henry Blodget, The Rich DO Create Nearly Every Job (John Tamny, RealClearMarkets, 12/10).

Unemployment: Who’s the Real Scrooge? (Jonathan S. Tobin, Commentary, 12/10).

Rand Paul Gets the Scrooge Award (Ruth Marcus, RealClearPolitics, 12/11).

Krugman's Unemployment Answer Stares Him In the Face (Diana Furchtgott-Roth, RealClearMarkets, 12/10).

MOBILITY AND EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY

Inequality: Obama picks the wrong war (Rich Lowry, The New York Post, 12/09).

GOVERNMENT FINANCE AND FINANCIAL POLICY

‘Seven percent solution’ backs Bernanke into a corner (John Crudele, The New York Post, 12/09).

Get ready, here it comes: A December taper (Steve Liesman, CNBC, 12/10).

PUBLIC PENSIONS -- ILLINOIS

Robbing Illinois's Public Employees (David Dayen, The American Prospect, 12/09).

GLOBAL ECONOMY -- CHINA

Think American Debt Is Bad? Try China (Benjamin Carlson, RealClearWorld, 12/10).

GLOBAL ECONOMY -- BRITAIN

Let's admit it: Britain is now a developing country (Aditya Chakrabortty, The Guardian, 12/09).