Last week I stood by my earlier prediction that the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) will return to the Mexican Presidency in July’s election, which I believe will be won by Enrique Peña Nieto. This Monday, the Parametria firm published a poll indicating that Peña Nieto has an 18-point lead over the incumbent National Action Party’s … Continue reading
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DeMarco Hints at Principal Reduction Decision
The director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced today that with additional incentives, funded through TARP, a program of principal forgiveness through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSE), might now make more sense. While making no official announcement, FHFA Director Edward DeMarco said that the additional funds would make such … Continue reading
Economic Daily Outlook
TUESDAY, ARPIL 10, 2012 ECONOMICS: White House highlights tax fairness ahead of Obama speech http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/10/us-usa-campaign-obama-buffett-idUSBRE8390CZ20120410 Taxes for America’s highest earners have fallen sharply since 1995, according to a White House report on Tuesday, released ahead of a speech by President Barack Obama on fairness in the tax code that is a key part of … Continue reading
Formal Criminal Alliances Pose a Major Security Threat to the Americas
A recent report from Guatemalan authorities focuses on a formal alliance between two major criminal entities: the Mexican Zetas cartel and the Mara Salvatrucha (MS) street gang that operates throughout Central and North America. Informal and temporary alliances are often formed between criminal groups, but this is the first report of a formal alliance. Such … Continue reading
Economic Daily Outlook
MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2012 ECONOMICS: Federal Funds to Train the Jobless Are Drying Up http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/09/business/economy/federal-funds-to-train-jobless-are-drying-up.html With the economy slowly reviving, an executive from Atlas Van Lines recently visited Louisville, Ky., with good news: the company wanted to hire more than 100 truck drivers ahead of the summer moving season. But a usually reliable source … Continue reading
BLS Reports Slower Job Growth Last Month
Payroll employment rose by 120,000 jobs in March with the unemployment rate falling slightly to 8.2 percent, according to the report released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Growth is always good news, but a look behind the numbers shows that this kind of growth is mediocre at best. Despite the slight increase in … Continue reading
Damaging Effects of Denying Expansion
The Keystone XL pipeline could have provided Americans more economic, energy, and job security. However, in January 2012, President Obama announced he would not permit TransCanada to build a $7 billion pipeline from Alberta, Canada across international borders to the US Gulf Coast. Since then, Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has turned to China to … Continue reading
Weekly Graphic: Government Spending – 40 Year Comparison
Data from CBO 2012. All numbers are in FY 2005 dollars adjusted for inflation. © Joseph Chrisman Continue reading
Economic Daily Outlook
FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2012 ECONOMICS: Europe’s Markets Are Tested Anew http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304072004577325611589982858.html New strains surfaced in European markets as a slide in the euro forced Switzerland’s central bank to intervene in currency markets and Spanish bond yields climbed to their highest level this year. While trading was thin ahead of the Easter break, traders said … Continue reading
Economy / Fiscal policy / Healthcare / Politics / Tax
Occupy entitlements! And the tax code!
By Will Portman The Occupy movement has brought income inequality to the forefront of the national political discussion over the past year, even if both the movement and the issue have faded in recent months. Occupy protestors are concerned about the growing wealth gap in the U.S., pointing to studies like the recent Congressional Budget Office … Continue reading
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