Econ 101: July 21, 2011

Welcome to ThinkProgress Economy’s morning link roundup. This is what we’re reading. Have you seen any interesting news? Let us know in the comments section. You can also follow ThinkProgress Economy on Twitter.

• President Obama said yesterday that he “would accept a short-term increase” in the federal debt limit “if congressional leaders reach agreement on a ‘significant’ deficit-reduction plan before Aug. 2 but need more time to pass legislation.” [Wall Street Journal]

• “The Federal Reserve is actively preparing for the possibility that the United States could default” as the deadline for raising the debt ceiling approaches, the President of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said yesterday. [Reuters]

• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau officially assumes its regulatory authority today. [McClatchy]

• The White House said yesterday that President Obama will veto a Republican bill that would alter the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Obams said the bill “would ‘expose American consumers and the nation’s economy to the same risks that led to the 2008 financial crisis.’” [The Hill]

• “The assets held by the five largest American banks — Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs — grew 3 percent last year compared to the year prior,” according to SEC filings. [Huffington Post]

• Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), chairman of the Senate’s antitrust subcommittee, “called on regulators Wednesday to block AT&T’s $39 billion bid for rival T-Mobile, saying the merger would lead to less competition and higher prices for consumers.” [Washington Post]

• The main lobbying group representing for-profit colleges “sued the U.S. Education Department Wednesday, charging that the agency’s recently enacted regulation aimed at ensuring that vocational programs prepare students for ‘gainful employment’ is unconstitutional.” [Inside Higher Ed]

• “After a legislative session that dragged on late into the night,” Gov. Mark Dayton (D-MN) signed into law legislation that ended the longest government shutdown in Minnesota history. [New York Times]

• “The U.S. homeownership rate has fallen below 60 percent when delinquent borrowers are excluded, a sign of the country’s move toward a ‘rentership society,’” according to an analysis from Morgan Stanley. [Bloomberg]

• A group of Democratic senators yesterday penned a letter to federal banking regulators “requesting information regarding each mortgage servicer’s performance in preventing illegal foreclosure practices.” [The Hill]

• The Federal Trade Commission announced yesterday that “hundreds of thousands of homeowners who took out mortgages with Countrywide Financial Corp. will soon receive their slice of a $108 million settlement over claims that the lender charged outsized fees to borrowers facing foreclosure.” [Associated Press]