The Empire State manufacturing index released by the New York Federal Reserve showed a reading of (negative)- 7.8 for June, compared with expectations for a positive 12.

FORBES: Weakening Consumer And Manufacturing In U.S. Dishearten Markets

The Federal Reserve reaffirmed last week that real interest rates will remain negative for the long haul.

FORBES: Raising Debt Ceiling Raises Roof For Silver And Gold

Slaughter has found a statistically significant relationship between declining unionization and increasing foreign investment across industries in the U.S. Firm-level analysis by Bruce Fallick of the Federal Reserve Board and our colleague Kevin Hassett also finds a negative relationship between unionization and investment.

FORBES: How To Lure Foreign Investment To The U.S.