Must-Reads:
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German Lopez: White House: 8 million people signed up for Obamacare: “Eight million people signed up for Obamacare’s insurance marketplaces between October and April 15, President Barack Obama announced Thursday. The number comes in higher than the 7 million enrollees budget forecasters had predicted and after HealthCare.gov’s botched rollout, which led to few sign-ups during the first couple months. The White House reported a surge of signups toward the end of March, as the March 31 deadline for open enrollment loomed. The surge apparently continued until April 15, the extended deadline for those who ran into technical problems signing up by the end of March 31…”
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John Aziz: The World’s Dumbest Idea: Taxing Solar Energy: “In a setback for the renewable energy movement the state House in Oklahoma this week passed a bill that would levy a new fee on those who generate their own energy through solar equipment or wind turbines on their property. The measure, which sailed to passage on a near unanimous vote after no debate, is likely to be signed into law by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin…. Now utility firms in Oklahoma say they just want to be compensated for use of their infrastructure. But renewable energy fed back into the grid is ultimately doing utility companies a service. Solar generates in the daytime, when demand for electricity is highest, thereby alleviating pressure during peak demand. Oklahoma is not alone. Last year, Arizona enacted a similar law. Legislators in Spain tried to do the same thing. The pushback against renewable energy, it seems, is already here…
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Dean Baker: Will the Wall Street Journal Give Ed Lazear Space to Correct His Piece About Falling Work Hours?: “Last month the WSJ ran a column by Ed Lazear, a Stanford economics professor and former chief economist to President Bush, which noted the decline in the length of the average workweek between the fall and the most recent data from February. The piece noted that if labor demand was measured in hours, we had lost the equivalent of 100,000 jobs over the prior six months. He discussed possible causes for this decline and highlighted the incentives created by the Affordable Care Act. While some of us at the time questioned the plausibility of this story and noted the likely effect of the weather on reducing workweeks in January and February, we got the question resolved when the March data was released this month. The entire decline in average hours was reversed. The question is whether the WSJ will allow Mr. Lazear a follow-up piece to point out that his earlier concerns about the Affordable Care Act leading to a reduction in the length of the average workweek had apparently been wrong.”
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Thomas Piketty: Extreme Inequality Is Useless for Growth: http://www.youtube.com/nxJvw5HlDs8
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