Econ 101: September 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.

• The Federal Reserve today “looks set to launch a fresh effort to invigorate the faltering U.S. recovery, embarking on what could be the first in a series of incremental steps to foster stronger growth.” [Reuters]

• A dispute over how much money to provide the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster relief is renewing threats of a government shutdown. [The Hill]

• A report from the inspector general of the Securities and Exchange Commission shows that the SEC’s general counsel worked on the Bernie Madoff case “despite his family’s $2 million inheritance from a Madoff account.” [New York Times]

• The internet companies Nextag, Yelp, and Expedia “are gearing up to attack Google Inc. on Capitol Hill, claiming the company is taking new profits for itself by unfairly punishing them on its search engine.” [Wall Street Journal]

• Federal prosecutors and regulators “are moving closer toward bringing criminal charges against Rajat Gupta, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. director who allegedly leaked inside information about the Wall Street giant at the height of the financial crisis.” [Wall Street Journal]

• “President Barack Obama’s high-speed passenger rail initiative may be unfunded next year” after a Senate appropriations subcommittee passed a Transportation Department budget with no money for the program. [Bloomberg]

• 100 House Republicans sent a letter to President Obama yesterday “asking his administration to settle its lawsuit blocking the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile.” [The Hill]

• “Less than a week after Democrat Elizabeth Warren launched her campaign for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts,” a poll shows her leading incumbent Sen. Scott Brown (R) by two points. [Huffington Post]