TUESDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The Fed is worried, but for now, it isn’t doing anything: “Federal Reserve officials signaled for the first time on Tuesday that they are worried that the slow-moving recovery could be undermined by very low rates of inflation and hinted that they might resume buying vast amounts of government debt.”
* Paul Krugman, summarizing the Fed’ position, added, “We’re failing in our mandate to deliver full employment; meanwhile, inflation is below target; therefore, we’ve decided to do nothing.”
* Afghanistan: “The worst helicopter crash in four years killed nine people, bringing NATO fatalities in 2010 to 529 and making it the most deadly year of the war since 2001…. The NATO statement did not list the nationality of the soldiers, but Pentagon officials said Tuesday that most of the dead were Americans.”
* Lawrence Summers will leave his job as the president’s National Economic Council director after the midterm elections. Bloomberg reported this earlier, and the White House confirmed the news this afternoon.
* Despite rumored reports to the contrary yesterday, the House will not adjourn this week: “Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Tuesday shot down the suggestion that the House might adjourn at the end of this week, saying Members would definitely be in session at least through next week.”
* Unexpected news from the housing sector: “Some good news for the housing market: Building starts on new homes climbed 10.5 percent in August, the Census Bureau announced this morning. Construction ramped up to an annualized pace of 598,000 homes, the highest rate since early spring. Economists had expected starts to decline slightly.”
* President Obama, speaking in Philadelphia last night, offered a message to the Democratic base: “Folks, wake up! This is not some academic exercise.”
* The Kaiser Family Foundation has done a tremendous job creating a new site explaining the new health care law, including an extremely helpful timeline, noting when changes will take effect. Worth bookmarking for future reference.
* Daniel Luzer on those with college degrees making more money than those without: “[C]ollege is still worth it. This is not, however, because college is any more valuable or remunerative than it used to be, but just because things are much, much worse for people who didn’t go to college.”
* Fox News really isn’t in a position to complain about anything being taken out of context.
* GOProud, a group of gay Republicans, apparently doesn’t understand that Harry Reid had to switch his vote on the defense authorization bill today for procedural reasons. Not the sharpest group of folks.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
