Jobs Bill Could Help Economic Growth, Some Forecasters Say

WASHINGTON — Business economists believe the country will see modest growth in 2013 with strength coming from a further rebound in housing which will help offset weakness in business investment. In its latest survey of top forecasters, the National Association for Business Economics says it is looking for the economy to grow in 2013 by 2.1 percent after 2.2 percent growth in 2012. That would continue the same tepid growth the country has seen since the Great Recession ended in mid-2009. Growth at that pace is not strong enough to make a significant improvement in unemployment.

[4:00 pm ET Sunday] It’s middle of the summer and most days in New York and Toronto the weather is stifling. No matter what time of year, it’s hot money that rules the markets. As capital flooded in on Friday, higher prices made the week because otherwise this one was a loser.

Senate Democrats have presented their official plan to avoid the sequester, unveiling a bill Thursday that would replace the across-the-board budget cuts for 10 months.  The bill, called the American Family Economic Protection Act, includes $110 billion in savings, balanced evenly with spending cuts and new revenues.

Dylan Matthews is writing Wonkbook while Ezra is in China. The latest jobs bill is being pared down to cater to centrist members of Congress. Will this stop additional bills in the future? Meanwhile, a study suggests that the federal government will bear almost the entire brunt of Medicaid expansion. And the SEC is proposing a database to track trades. Welcome to Wonkbook. Top Stories

Menzie Chinn sums up private sector forecasters’ view of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: