Media

Pennsylvania state court judge Robert Simpson refused to issue a preliminary injunction against the state’s controversial voter ID legislation today, despite allegations that the law was discriminatory and passed for partisan gain.

Ben Protess made an interesting comparison today in a DealBook article on the rise of CFTC Chief Gary Gensler and the agency's successful work on the LIBOR rate fixing scandal: 

When I was a student, my English-major friends warned me that economists were people who didn’t have enough personality to become accountants. It seemed like a terrible accusation at the time. Today, I worry less about the personality than the efficacy of both professions.

Things that you can blame President Obama and his administration for: not implementing stronger ozone rules, an overall attack on regulations, and promoting natural gas development while ignoring the extreme economic and environmental damage caused by fracking.

It seems there is little real relief on the horizon.

“If you’re coming out of college with an average number of $20,000 to $25,000 in debt and there’s no job out there, you’ve got a real problem,” said John Quinterno, a researcher who has studied the consequences of student debt.

Washington, DC - The United States Student Association (“USSA”), the nation’s oldest and largest student-run, student-led organization, yesterday filed a brief amicus curiae supporting the constitutionality of the University of Texas’ undergraduate admissions program, which is being challenged before the U.S. Supreme Court in Fisher v. University of Texas, No. 11-345.  USSA is comprised of more than four million students with diverse backgrounds who are currently enrolled in American colleges and universities.

Here's one explanation for a yo-yoing stock market that leaves millions of 401(k) holders biting their nails on a regular basis: The cost for an investor to buy and then sell a stock has fallen by half in the past decade, to 3.5 cents, as the New York Times notes today. 

With costs this low, old fashioned speculation makes more sense than ever -- and so does new fangled high-frequency trading by powerful computers.

Social Security turned 77 today. Unfortunately, it's not a happy day for the historic program: new data compiled by the U.S. Treasury Department for Smart Money reports: 

More evidence this morning that the rich are doing swell.