An economy not yet in balance

September 17, 2015 - Daily News Briefing

As the Federal Reserve considers inching up interest rates, economic indicators urge caution.

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has blamed Europe's refugee crisis on Western support for "terrorists," as people fleeing his country's civil war stream towards the European Union. In his first public comments on the mass migration, broadcast on Wednesday, Assad said Europe could expect more refugees.

The Obama administration is weighing an offer from Russia to have military-to-military talks and meetings on the situation in Syria amid increasing US concern and uncertainty about Russia's military buildup there, Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday. Kerry said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had proposed the consultation in a phone call on Tuesday and that the White House, Pentagon and State Department were considering it. Kerry suggested that he favored such an idea, noting that the United States wants a clear picture of what Russia's intentions are in Syria following a recent military buildup there.

Mexico's foreign minister arrived in Egypt early Wednesday morning seeking answers in the wake of the deaths of eight Mexican tourists after Egyptian security forces mistakenly attacked a desert safari. Secretary of Foreign Affairs Claudia Ruiz Massieu was accompanied by several family members of the victims, according to a statement from the Mexican Foreign Ministry.

On his first appearance at the dispatch box, Jeremy Corbyn, the new leader of Britain's Labour Party, made good on his promise to introduce a more measured tone to the usually raucous "prime minister's question time." Facing off against Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday, Corbyn asked a series of questions in a quiet and calm manner that invited a measured response, not a cutting one-line riposte. Cameron congratulated Corbyn on winning his party's leadership contest and said he would be delighted if their weekly encounter in the House of Commons became a more serious forum for posing and answering questions.

The wallets of America's middle class and poorest aren't seeing any extra money, the U.S. Census reported Wednesday, a financial stagnation experts say may be fueling political dissent this campaign season. The Census Bureau, in its annual look at poverty and income in the United States, said both the country's median income and poverty rate were statistically unchanged in 2014 from the previous year. Median income – the point where half of the households have income below it and half have income above it – showed no statistically significant change, despite the small drop to $53,700 in 2014 from 2013's $54,500.

An accounting error in Colorado is paying off for marijuana consumers Wednesday, when a quirk in a state tax law prompts the state to suspend most taxes on recreational pot. The one-day pot tax holiday means Colorado won't collect 10 percent sales taxes on pot. The state is also suspending a 15 percent excise tax on marijuana growers. The tax break is happening because Colorado underestimated overall state tax collections last year. Under the state constitution, the accounting error triggers an automatic suspension of any new taxes — in this case, the recreational marijuana taxes voters approved in 2013.

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