Philly Fed revises downwards. I bet the economy does better than this but it's just a hunch.

(via DeLong, via Atrios)


Under Attack, Fed Officials Defend Buying of Bonds by Sewell Chan

Bernanke and the Fed have been attacked by China, Germany etc., Greenspan and conservative letter writing economists.

Yglesias directs us to this by Greg Mankiw. He didn't sign the letter, nor did Mark Zandi. Both have gone up in my book. Greenspan seems to have reverted to form after admitting he was wrong about self-regulating banks.

Tim Duy writes:

Bottom Line: In general, the retail sales report was good news, as it is another indicator that drives a stake into the heart of the double-dip story. But keep in mind that the data continues to illustrate the good cop, bad cop conflict in the economy. Policymakers should be concerned about the distance between new trends and old, lest they risk falling into the trap of diminished expectations, believing that 9% unemployment should be the new normal. Market participants, however, may simply be content with confirmation that the foundation for ongoing corporate revenue growth remains secure.

(via Mark Thoma)