Fed Official: Few Signs of Recovery (CNN.com): “Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Alfred Broaddus said Friday there were good reasons to expect the U.S. economy to accelerate, but so far there are few clear signals. ‘There are a few signs in the recently released data that the recovery may be gaining strength,’ Broaddus said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Independent Banks of South Carolina.
US textile groups seek China quotas (China Daily): “US textile producers will ask the Bush administration to impose emergency import quotas on four categories of apparel from China, a textile industry official said on Wednesday.
The United States was required to eliminate import quotas on China in 29 different apparel categories when Beijing joined the World Trade Organization in late 2001.
Moans the Los Angeles Times: ”Many Indians Exempt From State Taxes, Fees —California tribes’ sovereignty frustrates beleaguered state and local officials seeking to fill yawning budget gaps.” So cut off their welfare. Hey, a good model for all of us.
Having backed the US catfish industry in its campaign to prevent Vietnamese catfish from being called what they are, US trade officials are complaining about a new plan by the EU to crack down on name usage. The BBC reports that Brussels is taking a list of 35 food and drink names to the WTO meeting in September that the EU claims ought be restrictively used.
Implementing social security systems and providing so-called welfare and social justice as governmental goals have become the outstanding features of the State since the late 19th century.
Interesting report, courtesy of the AP, on a release by the National Conference of State Legislatures:
‘Susannah Camic in the Yale Review of Books on The Great Tax Wars: From Lincoln to T.R. to Wilson: How the Income Tax Transformed America by Steven Weismann.
New Reality is Leaving Growth in the Mire, by Louis Uchitelle (NYT): “For nearly 29 months, the nation has struggled through a recession and a weak recovery. That is a long struggle, a new form of hardship for many Americans, who are tantalized with incessant forecasts that a decisive upturn is about to happen. But as the months wear on, the dogged optimism detaches from reality.”
If you want a protectionist argument made, so much better to get a free-trader to do it. Here Doug Bandow opposes free trade in pharmaceuticals. Are American drug prices “too high”?
