Raft of downbeat Asian economic reports adds to worries about global downturn’s toll

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, August 10, 8:49 PM

HONG KONG — A slew of gloomy economic reports from Asian nations show that Europe’s debt crisis and the broader global downturn are taking a growing toll on the region even as governments respond with extra spending and lower lending rates.

Hong Kong and Singapore, both Asian financial centers that are highly exposed to global trade, reported weak second quarter GDP Friday, the same day that figures from China showed its trade slowing more sharply than forecast in July.

Economists to Romney campaign: That’s not what our research says

Posted by Ezra Klein on August 8, 2012 at 11:58 am

On Tuesday, the Romney campaign responded to the fire it’s taking from economic analysts by unleashing some artillery of their own. They released a paper by four decorated economists associated with the campaign — Glenn Hubbard, Greg Mankiw, John Taylor, and Kevin Hassett — that tried to lend some empirical backing to “The Romney Program for Economic Recovery, Growth, and Jobs.”

Why do conservatives want Paul Ryan to be vice president?

Posted by Ezra Klein on August 9, 2012 at 9:22 am

The Wall Street Journal editorial page has joined the growing movement of influential conservatives uniting behind hero wonk Paul Ryan for vice president. “The larger strategic point,” they counsel, “is that Mr. Romney’s best chance for victory is to make this a big election over big issues.” And Ryan is Mr. Big Issues.

Economy might be gaining traction, new data suggest

View Photo Gallery — Economic pictures: Amid signs that the U.S. economy is slowing, the government released its latest jobs report Aug. 3. The U.S. added 163,000 jobs in July, but the montly unemployment rate inched up to 8.3 percent, the Labor Department said. The contradictory pair of figures illustrate the muddled state of the economy.

By Zachary A. Goldfarb and Michael A. Fletcher,

After a spring and summer of weak economic indicators, a flurry of fresh data suggest key sectors of the economy might be gaining traction, just as the battle for the White House enters the final round.