By Tim Price, originally published on Next New Deal
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What Markets Will (NYT)
Many economic analysts talk about the market as a kind of divine force, writes Paul Krugman, but they're only using it as an excuse to justify their own desire for more human sacrifice.
To get more specific: We have been told repeatedly that governments must cease and desist from their efforts to mitigate economic pain, lest their excessive compassion be punished by the financial gods, but the markets themselves have never seemed to agree that these human sacrifices are actually necessary. Investors were supposed to be terrified by budget deficits, fearing that we were about to turn into Greece — Greece I tell you — but year after year, interest rates stayed low. The Fed’s efforts to boost the economy were supposed to backfire as markets reacted to the prospect of runaway inflation, but market measures of expected inflation similarly stayed low.
Follow below the fold for more.
AbbVie Board Ditches Planned $55 Billion Shire Acquisition (Reuters)
The pharmaceutical company has abandoned plans to shift its tax base to the U.K., reports Ben Hirschler, because new rules make it harder to dodge U.S. taxes through such inversion schemes.
How the Fed Is Trying to Fill in the Gaps of Monetary Policy (WaPo)
Janet Yellen met with nonprofits and community developers in Chelsea, MA yesterday to discuss how Federal Reserve policy can better support working-class cities, reports Ylan Q. Mui.
Even Red-State Voters Want to Raise the Minimum Wage (The Nation)
Minimum wage increases will be on the ballot this fall in some states that lean heavily Republican, writes John Nichols, despite opposition from the top leadership of the party.
$10.10 Minimum Wage Would Save The U.S. Government $7.6 Billion A Year (HuffPost)
A new study from the Economic Policy Institute shows that a higher minimum wage would allow 1.7 million workers to stop relying on public assistance programs, reports Kevin Short.
Companies Warn That Income Inequality Is Hurting Their Business (ThinkProgress)
An analysis of corporate filings finds that many of the largest U.S. retail companies are concerned that their customers are not earning enough money to support sales, writes Alan Pyke.
The Volcker Rule: How a Simple Idea to Rein In Banks Got Supersized (Bloomberg View)
A straightforward proposal to ban proprietary trading has ballooned to hundreds of pages, leading some to call for the return of Glass-Steagall as an alternative, writes Yalman Onaran.