Thursday News: FT reports bond investors are braced for a new year shock; Ralph Benko writes bipartisanship is great for politicians but gridlock is better for the American people.

Politics and Government

From Forbes.com, Ralph Benko writes bipartisanship is great for politicians but gridlock is better for the American people.

On International Liberty, Dan Mitchell discusses crony capitalism and his top blog posts of 2013.

Monetary Reform

FT reports bond investors are braced for a new year shock.

On EconoMonitor, Tim Duy says, “At first blush, the Federal Reserve looked to have pulled off an almost seamless hand-off of accommodation from quantitative easing to forward guidance at the last FOMC meeting.  The announcement of the long-awaited taper was met with a subdued bond market reaction while stocks soared.  Since then, however, bond yields have climbed, breaching the three percent mark at the end of last week.”

In The WSJ, Min Zeng and Mike Cherney say rising yields give bond buyers and issuers pause for thought.

On TGSN, Ralph Benko responds to Paul Krugman’s recent attack on the gold standard.

In The WSJ, Pedro Nicolaci da Costa lists the five challenges for the Federal Reserve in 2014.

Tax

On The Kudlow Report, Grover Norquist details the new Obamacare taxes coming in 2014.