November 10

“What you need to know to navigate today’s economic debate.”

Dodd Set to Unveil Financial Reform Bill (Reuters)
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd will unveil long-awaited draft legislation on financial regulation reform on Tuesday.

A Squeeze on Customers Ahead of New Rules (NYT)
Even the best cardholders are seeing their interest rates rise and credit lines get cut as financial firms struggle to make money in their card units.

Financial Regulations Chief Chides British Banks (NYT)
Many senior banking executives failed to accept responsibility for the financial crisis and neglected the need to change their behavior, said Hector Sants, the chief executive at Britain’s financial industry regulatory body

Attack of the Home Buyers’ Tax Credit (Economix)
One reason to fret about federal anti-recessionary fixes is that they often last long after the crisis that justified their creation.

FHA’s Reserve Fund Hits 7-Year Low (WP)
The Federal Housing Administration, which has played a crucial role supporting American home buyers after the collapse of the mortgage market, has burned through a huge cash reserve in less than a decade.

Barclays and HSBC Upbeat on Bad Loans (FT)
Investment banking drives groups’ growth.

FDIC’s 20% Shorter ‘Merit’ Reviews Preceded Banking Failures (BLM)
At least three U.S. banks failed in the past year after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. deemed them healthy enough to qualify for a program that reduced the time examiners spent on reviews by at least 20 percent.

Counting the Jobs Produced by the Stimulus (EconView)
Gary Burtless argues that the job creation numbers the administration issued underestimate the true size of the impact.

Life on Severance: Comfort, Then Crisis (WSJ)
Unemployed Americans who have used severance pay and savings to maintain their lifestyles are still out of work, and running out of funds.

Global Bubbles: The Geithner-Brown Split (Baseline)
Bigger banks pose more system risk, mega-banks pose the most risk, and all bubbles can quickly go bad in the presence of such gigantic institutions.

The Next Economic Bubble (Newsweek)
Will low interest rates backfire sooner than anyone thinks?

In This Together (NYT)
The U.S. economic recovery has accentuated rather than eased inequalities, another reason why health reform is so important.