“GDP” on The Daily Caller

Interesting note from Credit Suisse’s Neal Soss, commenting on last Friday’s jobs report: (more)

There’s a lot of talk about the direct GDP impact of rising oil prices, via higher gas prices. (more)

NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market closed mostly lower Friday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average to its first losing week of 2012, after the government reported that economic growth was slower at the end of last year than economists expected. (more)

The U.S. economy grew at a slightly slower pace than previously estimated in the third quarter, but weak inventory accumulation amid sturdy consumer spending strengthened views output would pick up in the current quarter. (more)

WASHINGTON — Businesses boosted their orders for machinery, electronics products and airplanes in May. The pickup suggests manufacturing is rebounding after the Japan crises made parts scarce and slowed production of some factory goods temporarily. (more)

Japan’s gross domestic product fell less than estimated in the fourth quarter in a pullback that may prove temporary as overseas demand revives production after the nation fell behind China as the world’s second-largest economy. (more)

A top official at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Thursday that the nation’s largest business lobby would support eliminating most of the tax loopholes obtained by large corporations to move toward comprehensive tax reform that resulted in lower rates. (more)

Listening to the local news on the radio recently, I heard a report about how newly elected Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz plans to save $8 million by, among other things, merging the “Office of Sustainability” with the Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management. (more)

In November, Bracken Hendricks, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a liberal D.C. think tank, wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post entitled “Don’t believe in global warming? That’s not very conservative.” His op-ed wasn’t very convincing, but it got me thinking of the various ways that the push for cap-and-trade legislation undermines traditionally liberal goals, like helping poor people. (more)

Final reports from government commissions are not generally known to be stirring or often acted upon. Most of the time, that’s OK. Commissions are usually government’s way of pretending to address a problem without really doing so. (more)

Investors will face defaults on government bonds given the burden of aging populations and the difficulty of securing more tax revenue, according to Morgan Stanley. (more)

“Things could be worse.” (more)

This year, the U.S. public debt is projected to reach 62 percent of the economy—up from 40 percent in 2008 and nearly double the historical average, according to recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates. The financial crisis and recession drove much of this debt swing, yet larger problems loom in the future. (more)

Peter Orszag, the president’s outgoing Director of the Office of Management and Budget, released the annual mid-year update to the administration’s budget projections at 3 pm last Friday afternoon in a conference call with reporters. That was a dead giveaway that the administration was hoping not to make much news with its latest budget projections, or at least not make news in a way that anyone would notice. (more)

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan is feeling a bit lonely. (more)

Congress is once again considering President Obama’s request for yet another economic stimulus package. Meanwhile, the jury is still out as to the efficacy of the earlier stimulus spending passed by a spend-happy Congress. (more)

Memorial Day is an occasion to remember all of the brave men and women who gave their lives for our country. Indeed, America has a proud history of defending freedom the world over. Yet this weekend, Americans should also consider the future. Will we have the resources to fight the next time our country is called to duty? (more)

Riots in Greece and a stock market spooked by the growing risk of government default has increased attention in the United States on the need to reduce our own national debt. The President’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility launched this month and commission members took turns describing the gravity of our economic situation. Concern about the level of U.S. debt is certainly warranted, but it shouldn’t be used as an excuse for passing tax increase, or even worse, for creating a whole new extra system of taxation, like a value-added tax (VAT). (more)

What do you think is wrong with the current tax system in America? (more)

The debate over free trade is riddled with myth after myth. One that keeps resurfacing again and again, no matter how many times it is discredited, is the idea that protectionism caused the Great Depression. One occasionally even hears that the same protectionism—specifically the Smoot-Hawley tariff of 1930—was responsible in significant part for World War II! This is nonsense dreamed up for propaganda purposes by free traders, and can easily be debunked. (more)