On October 4, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke testified before Congress and warned against premature fiscal tightening that would be economically contractionary.
On October 3, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York published a working paper on whether it is a good idea to ban short-selling.
An October 3 CBS News poll found that people support cutting taxes to stimulate the economy over increasing spending by a 47 percent to 37 percent margin.
An October 3 National Journal poll found that people mostly think government regulation does more harm than good, but they mostly support specific regulations when asked.
A September 29 Pew poll found that a rising percentage of people believe the U.S. is becoming divided between the “haves” and “have-nots.”
On September 28, the Census Bureau published the latest edition of the Statistical Abstract of the United States, an essential data source on a wide variety of topics.
On September 27, the Census Bureau released new data on the number of same-sex couples in the country.
Also on September 27, the Economic Policy Institute published a report debunking the idea that regulatory uncertainty is a major factor holding back the economy.
And on September 27, the insurance company Lloyd’s published a report on managing natural catastrophic risks in the U.S. It argues that many government policies hamper the ability of insurance companies to adequately cover the risks from floods, storms, earthquakes and other disasters.
In a September 23 commentary, Yale economist Robert Shiller said that poor consumer confidence is a major factor holding back growth and that this problem could last for years.
Bruce Bartlett is an American historian and columnist who focuses on the intersection between politics and economics. He blogs daily and writes a weekly column for The Fiscal Times. Bartlett has written for Forbes Magazine and Creators Syndicate, and his work is informed by many years in government, including as a senior policy analyst in the Reagan White House. He is the author of seven books including the New York Times best-seller, Imposter: How George W. Bush Bankrupted American and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy (Doubleday, 2006)
