Econ 101: October 11, 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.

• Mega-bank Goldman Sachs “may report its lowest quarterly profit since the 2008 financial crisis,” while Wells Fargo “is headed for record earnings.” [Washington Post]

• In a new draft plan, President Obama’s jobs council “is recommending an initiative to attract $1 trillion in foreign direct investment within five years and upgrade the nation’s transportation and energy infrastructure.” [Bloomberg]

• According to the latest figures from the National Employment Law Project, “more than 6 million Americans are set to lose federal unemployment benefits in 2012, with 1.8 million running out in January alone.” [CNN Money]

• Congressional Democrats “are pushing back aggressively against Republican attacks on the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York and Washington,” saying “the conservative criticism of the rallies is evidence that Republicans are out of touch with working-class Americans.” [The Hill]

• The Volcker Rule, a key part of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, “will begin to take shape this week.” [New York Times]

• Thomas Sargent of New York University and Christopher Sims of Princeton University won the Nobel Prize in Economics yesterday for helping to “rewrite the models that central bankers and other economic policy makers use to analyze the likely effects of measures from tax increases to interest-rate cuts.” [Wall Street Journal]

• Wall Street banks “have become full-time headhunters for some of their biggest hedge fund clients, a role that is rife with potential conflicts.” [New York Times]

• The Obama administration’s Race to the Top program would become a permanent part of the nation’s education laws under a Senate draft proposal. [Education Week]