Huger Rises in American Cities and Other Links for Your Econ Classroom

• The US Conference of Mayors has released a new report that shows increased hunger and homelessness in U.S. cities. Unemployment is the leading cause of both, but many hungry and some homeless are employed. (For more on the relationship between poverty and labor market conditions, type "poverty" in the search box on this blog)
• It's hard to keep up with the fast-changing situation in Europe, so now and then I like to give a link to a piece that summarizes the situation well for those who can't read everything. Tim Duy's post in today's Economonitor fits that pattern. Duy explains why the euro has deep-rooted structural problems that are not addressed by the latest Franco-German plan. "I don't see where this ends well," concludes Duy. (BTW, Duy also spikes the rumor that the Fed is about to rescue European banks.)
• While the crisis in Europe has attracted the most attention, China is having its problems, too. Here are two good posts to keep up to date on the China scene. In the first, Michael Pettis explains just how we know that China is overinvesting. In this next one, Patrick Chovanec provides the latest data on the collapse of China's housing bubble.