links for 2011-09-24

A judge has subpoenaed six newspapers for the names and phone numbers of all reporters and editors who have covered Argentina's economy the past five years, so they can be called as witnesses against their sources.

News organizations called it an attempt to censor and intimidate the media from accurately reporting on Argentina's inflation, which many economists say is above 20 percent annually, more than twice what the government reports.

Garett Jones of George Mason University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the workers who were hired with money from the 2009 American Recovery and Re-investment Act–the stimulus package. Jones (with co-author Daniel Rothschild) recently completed two studies based on surveys and interviews with firms who received stimulus funds and workers who work at those firms. They found that 42% of workers hired had been unemployed. The remainder came from other jobs or from outside the labor force such as retirement or school. Is 42% a big number or a small number? Jones argues it is small and defends his conclusion. The conversation also includes a discussion of the labor market generally and why the stimulus spending may not have been effective.

Railroads shipments are the highest in almost three years, helping to defy concerns about a double- dip recession.

The world's major economic powers are pledging to launch a bold effort to deal with a chronic slowdown in growth and a European debt crisis threatening to push the global economy into another recession. But so far, markets are not buying the new commitments.