Opinion: Negative interest rates put the global economy on a razor’s edge
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Is A Gas War Between The U.S. And Canada About To Start?
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Items from Professor Preponomics:
US News
Americans Just Had $176 Million in Wages Garnished by the Government Due to Unpaid Student Loans (Market Watch) Excerpt: “Hicks said he’s particularly concerned that it appears that tens of thousands of borrowers are entering default for the second time each quarter the Department measured.”
Uncontrollable – Pentagon and Corporate Contractors Too Big to Audit (Taxpayers for Common Sense) Excerpt: “All $585 billion and more, e.g., for the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts, of your money—not just unaudited, but, in the sober judgment of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of the Congress, this vast military budget is year after year UNAUDITABLE.”
Federal Court Smacks IRS for Blocking Tea Party Over Political Targeting (Washington Examiner) Excerpt: “”[T]he Internal Revenue Code cannot be used as a sword by the federal government to inappropriately target those it disagrees with but used as a shield to prevent public disclosure of its wrongdoing,” said Alfred Lechner, president of the watchdog group Cause of Action Institute….”
House Moving Toward Higher 2017 Spending Caps (Washington Examiner) Excerpt: “Appropriators say sticking to the $1.07 trillion cap for 2017 spending is the only way Congress would be able to move spending legislation, since the lower figure would require domestic cuts that many lawmakers will oppose, and legislation that would fail in the Senate.”
International News
Brussels Attacks: Economic Costs Estimated to 4 Billion Euros (The Brussels Times) Excerpt: “If the terror threat persists or more attacks are perpetrated, the costs will rise further….”
Bank of England Warns on Brexit, Tightens Buy-to-Let Mortgages(Reuters) Excerpt: “It’s timid,” Capital Economics’s Paul Hollingsworth said, adding much of the gross lending growth was existing landlords switching mortgages rather than new lending. “They are doing a lot of red flag waving rather than taking some serious action.”
Apollo Offers to Buy Majority of Italy’s Carige via 550 Million Euros Cash Call (Reuters) Excerpt: “Saddled with bad loans and weak profitability, Italian banks are bracing for a wave of consolidation and a shake-up of their investor base….”
Personal Economics and Household Finance
Spring Clean Your Budget with These 19 Ways to Cut Costs & Save More Every Month (Clark Howard) Excerpt: “From cable bills to everyday spending habits, these 19 tips will help you save more, spend less, and help you have a sunnier 2016 when it comes to finances.”
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