March 9

“All you need to know to navigate today’s economic debate.”

Public Pension Funds Are Adding Risk to Raise Returns (NYT)
States and companies have started investing very differently when it comes to the billions of dollars they are safeguarding for workers’ retirement.

Fannie Mae Mortgage-Bond Spreads Fall to Record: Credit Markets (Bloomberg)
Yields on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage securities that guide U.S. home-loan rates fell to the lowest relative to Treasuries on record.

Obama Criticizes Insurers in Bid to Sway Public on Health Plan (Bloomberg)
President Barack Obama and his top health official are stepping up attacks on the nation’s insurers as they work to sway public opinion.

EU Leaders Call for CDS Supervision (WSJ)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for fast action against credit-default swaps Tuesday, as European Central Bank governor Christian Noyer said they should be traded through clearing houses under the control of a supervisor.

Are Unemployment Benefits No Longer Temporary? (WaPo)
Critics are saying that unemployment, the Depression-era program created as a temporary bridge for laid-off workers, is turning into an expensive entitlement.

Is Obama Turning on Goldman Sachs? (MotherJones)
Suzy Khimm asks if Obama is “making a ploy to associate price-gouging insurance companies with Wall Street greed?”

They Saved the Big Banks But Kind Of Lost The Economy Doing It (BaselineScenario)
Simon Johnson on recent comments from Timothy Geithner that “”we saved the economy but kind of lost the public doing it.”