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An unprecedented outflow of New Zealand citizens last year for jobs and better pay in Australia is leaving the nation

Despite bipartisan support on Capitol Hill for extending a temporary payroll tax cut for the rest of 2012, lawmakers have yet to close the deal.

The reason? Same ol’, same ol’.

With just 28 days left before the current two-month Band-Aid version expires, the sticking point for lawmakers is how to pay for an extension — the very same reason that tripped them up when they tried to negotiate a full-year extension in December.

Douglas Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office, told the House Budget Committee on Wednesday that he estimates that extending the payroll tax cut for another 10 months will cost $100 billion.

The measure is expected to be part of a larger package that also extends emergency federal unemployment benefits and prevents a scheduled pay cut to Medicare physicians.

Bush tax cuts: The real endgame

The payroll tax cut, if extended, would affect 160 million U.S. workers. It would reduce how much they pay into Social Security, thereby increasing their take-home pay. While normally they would have to pay 6.2% on the first $110,100 of their income for this year, the measure would reduce that to 4.2%. So a person making $50,000 would pocket an extra $1,000 a year — or $83 a month — as a result.

That reduced 4.2% rate was in effect for all of 2011 but is set to expire by March 1, barring any action by lawmakers.

Not everyone in Congress is in love with the idea of extending the measure. But there seems to be less argument about how doing so could help the economy in the short run.

"Extending the payroll tax cut through the end of the year will increase output and increase employment," Elmendorf told lawmakers payday loans.

Congress = Uncertainty, Inc.

He didn’t offer specific numbers during the hearing. But in a briefing on Tuesday, he estimated that extending the payroll tax cut for 2012 could add 0.25% to the gross domestic product by the end of the year and reduce the unemployment rate by one- to two-tenths of a percent..

A similar economic effect could result from extending the unemployment benefits. Doing so could boost economic growth this year by 0.25% and create 250,000 jobs by the end of 2012, Elmendorf said.

That’s because in both cases the money would go largely to people who are likely to spend most if not all of it. That, in turn, can spur demand for products and help bolster employment.

The select group of lawmakers designated to negotiate a final payroll tax cut deal will meet for the third time on Wednesday. There’s no telling when they may conclude a deal but one constituency is hoping for some clarity soon.

As they were last year, payroll tax administrators are hoping Congress resolves the issue once and for all, according to Michael O’Toole, senior director of government relations of the American Payroll Association.

"Payroll systems and the federal payroll tax reporting scheme are not set up to accommodate more than one employee Social Security tax rate in a calendar year, let alone within the same quarter," he said. 

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Manufacturing probably grew at a faster pace in January, a sign the industry will lead the U.S. expansion early this year, economists said before today

Reinsurance Group of America reported a lower profit for the fourth quarter, recording net income of $158.5 million, or $2.15 per share, compared with $196.7 million, or $2.62 per share, in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Quarterly premiums rose 13 percent, to $2 billion.

For all of 2011, the company earned $599.6 million, or $8.09 per share, compared with $574.4 million, or $7.69 per share, the previous year. The company, based in Chesterfield, is a large global provider of life reinsurance with offices in America, Europe, Asia, Australia, South Africa and Mexico, Barbados and Bermuda.

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Ever since oil was discovered in the North Sea off the British coast in December 1969, the Scottish National Party claimed it for Scotland.

Now in power and closer than ever to a referendum on whether to break from the U.K. after more than 300 years, the SNP government in Edinburgh led by Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond is counting on tax revenue from the oil industry as a key pillar of the economy along with financial services.

Fiat SpA (F), PSA Peugeot Citroen (UG) and Renault SA (RNO) led a fourth consecutive year of car sales declines across Europe as consumer confidence fell and unemployment remained at record levels.

Ben Bernanke presided over his first meeting as Federal Reserve chairman in March 2006 believing the nation could achieve a “soft landing” from falling home prices. Three months later, Bernanke had begun to grasp that he and others might have underestimated the risk housing posed to the economy.

Newly released transcripts of Fed meetings during Bernanke’s first year as chairman show that, among Fed officials, he often expressed the most concern about housing. But no official, according to the transcripts, recognized the extent of the damage a housing bubble would cause Payday advance. A year later, its collapse helped send the nation into the worst recession since the Great Depression.

In fact, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, then a Fed official, expressed confidence in September that “collateral damage” from housing could be avoided.

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When Eric Pierart takes in the chaotic wiggling of thousands of hens caged in his renovated barn, he’s reminded of how tough it is for Europe to unite on anything.

And how much time it takes.

A dozen years after the European Union set Jan. 1, 2012 as the date to eliminate the most cramped cages to improve the living standards of egg laying hens, half of the 27 European Union nations have failed to fully comply _ a flop seen as a metaphor for Europe’s current state of disarray.

“In all, they have been talking about it for 30 years,” complained the ruddy-cheeked Pierart, who adhered to the new rules.

“Now, it shows that common ideas for everyone are still hard to come by.”

Such is the way of the EU, where legislation seeps through layers of political and institutional granite in 27 nations at barely a trickle. And it affects a lot more than just the happiness of chickens.

Take the global economy.

For nearly two years, the world has been crying out for immediate and drastic measures to combat a debt crisis that has threatened to trigger a worldwide depression.

For nearly two years, the world has come away frustrated with explanations that Europe is not a legislative superhighway.

Now the fate of the lowly laying hen is again underscoring how slow a process it is to get everyone in the quilt of nations that is the European Union to unite on a common cause.

Many chicken farmers who made the heavy investment on time are now at a competitive disadvantage from laggards who didn’t. Pierart says he spent some euro1.5 million ($1.9 million) on new equipment for 100,000 chickens.

In this chicken-and-egg situation, it’s hard to pinpoint who’s ultimately to blame.

Some fault the glacial pace of continentwide legislation, as well as the EU’s poor checks, controls and enforcement.

Others point the finger at the perceived bad faith of some EU nations, seen as turning a laudable ideal into a logistical mess.

“If it is already so difficult for this, then how tough is it for 27 nations on much bigger issues?” Pierart asked.

It’s all deepened well-worn stereotypes that have long dogged the European Union _ about how the less affluent south and east skirt the rules, about how upright nations like Germany end up paying for it all, and about the bloated EU institutions that seem unable to do anything about it.

Those institutions, often identified simply as “Brussels”, can be a soft target. Fix something, and they’re accused of meddling. When things goes wrong, they’re accused of inaction or incompetence.

“It’s an absolute joke,” said Ian Plant, the owner of Plants Eggs in England’s Lincolnshire, who, like Pierart, made the switch on time.

“This is such a serious situation that someone at the end of the day has to get to grips with it.”

Even EU Consumer Policy Commissioner Dalli has said the hen imbroglio is undermining the EU’s credibility.

His office said that 14 member states are still not complying with the rules, including France, Italy, Poland and Spain.

That has particularly irked Britain, which has deep animal rights traditions and often seizes on any perceived slight from the European Union easy payday loans.

“It is unacceptable that after the ban on battery cages comes into effect around 50 million hens across Europe will still remain in poor conditions,” said British Agriculture Minister Jim Paice.

The European Commission says the total stands at 46 million hens still kept in illegal battery cages out of 330 million, or roughly 14 percent.

The new rules require cages to boost living space per hen to at least 750 sq. centimeters (115 sq. inches) from at least 550 square centimeters (85 square inches), among other measures.

“We have all had plenty of time to make these changes,” Paice said. “It would be unthinkable if countries continuing to house hens in poor conditions were to profit from flouting the law.”

The European Commission says it will be sending inspectors and starting legal proceedings against the recalcitrant nations as soon as possible. But those, too, can be lengthy, and meanwhile member states are left to deal with the potentially unfair competition as best they can.

“It can go all the way to the European Court of Justice,” said EU Commission spokesman Frederic Vincent, referring to the EU’s highest court. “It can lead to penalties.”

To many farmers, though, that is too little too late.

And animal welfare activists are equally frustrated. The cock-up with the hens reminds Michel Vandenbosch, leader of Belgian animal rights group Gaia, of how Greece _ whose debt woes triggered the financial crisis _ cooked its budgetary books for years until it was found out in 2009.

“Greece made a fool of the EU for years,” Vandenbosch said. “And now in this case too, they see things when it is too late.”

After all the years of work, Vandenbosch said the campaign to win hens a bit more wiggle room almost wasn’t worth the effort.

“Chickens won’t notice the difference,” he said. Instead of working with EU politicians, he said his organization has had at least as much success working on market players like Unilever, which is now moving well beyond EU rules and toward using only eggs from cage-free birds in their food products.

“Politics will have to realize how the market reacts, and they will have to follow,” Vandenbosch said.

In England, Plant said his renovations cost several million pounds.

“Having made this sort of investment, having been told by our government all the way along that this legislation was gold-plated, that it had to be completed by Jan. 1, we are now very disillusioned to find that substantial parts of Europe haven’t complied,” he said.

And when Europe fails, many still look to national borders as a line of defense.

“We’re now faced with a situation where something has to be done about these illegal eggs coming onto the British market,” said Plant.

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China will balance

Stocks were eking out small gains Tuesday on mixed economic news. Consumer confidence surged to an eight-month high, but home prices dropped in major cities. Sears plummeted after reporting that it would close more than 100 stores around the country.

In the latest sign of a bumpy recovery in the housing market, home prices fell in 19 of the 20 cities tracked by the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index. Atlanta, Detroit and Minneapolis posted the biggest declines. Prices in Atlanta and Las Vegas fell to their lowest points since the housing crisis began.

That report dampened investors’ enthusiasm about a jump in consumer confidence to the highest level since April. The New York-based Conference Board reported that its Consumer Confidence Index rose almost 10 points to 64.5 in December. Economists watch the numbers closely because consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.

Henry Herrmann, chief executive officer at the investment management firm Waddell & Reed, said the increase reflected the fact that more jobs have been created in recent weeks, which will likely lead to “a more sustained” economic recovery.

“If job creation will come with wage improvement in the coming weeks, it will boost confidence further,” Herrmann said.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 17 points at 12,311 as of noon Eastern. The S&P 500 was up less than 2 points at 1,267. The Nasdaq composite was off 7 points at 2,626.

The stock market was closed Monday in observance of Christmas. Stocks are expected to trade within a narrow range this week as trading remains light.

The Dow average closed at a five-month high last week after a run of strong economic data in the U.S. However analysts expect any market gains to be tempered by worries over the European debt crisis.

Italy’s borrowing costs rose Tuesday, reflecting investor anxiety. The yield on the country’s ten-year bonds hit 7 percent again, a level that is considered unsustainable in the long run. Greece, Ireland and Portugal had to seek relief from their lenders after their own borrowing costs rose to that level.

Italy is the euro zone’s third-largest economy and is considered too big to bail out. Mario Monti, the country’s new premier, got parliamentary approval last week for a big austerity package that is intended to save the country from financial disaster.

Markets have grown increasingly fearful over the past few months that Italy will find it difficult to pay off its massive debts, which stand at around $2.5 trillion.

In corporate news:

_ Sears Holding Corp. plunged 23 percent to $35.04, the most in the S&P 500, after the retailer announced plans to close between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores after poor sales during the holidays, the most crucial time of year for retailers.

_ U.S. oil and gas explorer Endeavour International Corp. rose 15 percent to $7.40 after the company announced an agreement to buy ConocoPhillips’ interest in three U.K. oil fields in the Central North Sea for $330 million.

_ MetLife Inc. rose 1 percent to $31.61 after saying it will sell its U.S. retail deposit business to GE Capital as it moves away from being a bank holding company.

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