Need to know…

• Fiscal Cliff Takes Center Stage. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Thursday laid out the costs of not dealing with the fiscal cliff. CBO had already estimated that going over the cliff would spark a recession, and now it finds that unemployment would rise from 7.9% to 9.1% by the end of 2013 if the nation went over the cliff. Delivering a statement in the East Room of the White House today at 1:05 p.m., President Obama is expected to discuss the fiscal cliff, and will likely urge Congress to take action. He is not likely to put forward a new plan.

• U.S. Businesses Focused on a More Competitive Economy. Next week, the Council of Competitiveness, a group of CEOs, university presidents, and labor leaders, will press a longer-term to-do list on Washington’s politicians to help America reverse its declining global competitiveness. Its 200 items include cutting corporate taxes, streamlining regulations, upgrading the nation’s infrastructure, and creating a more highly-skilled workforce.

• Global Shares Continue to Fall Amid U.S. Fiscal Cliff, EU’s Debt Troubles. World shares are on course for their worst weekly performance since June, depressed by the looming “fiscal cliff” that could slash U.S. public spending and by Europe’s debt troubles. The MSCI world equity index lost just over 2% since Monday morning and looked set to close today with a decline steeper than any other week since June. European shares extended their losses into a third day, partly stemming from worries over Greece. Markets are also watching the budget deficit in the United States; since the elections, investors have become worried that Washington’s politicians may struggle to find a compromise.

• Minor Changes to Dodd-Frank Likely in Next Few Years. The Wall Street Journal reports that while President Obama’s victory means the Dodd-Frank law will stand, the finance industry could trim some parts of the law because changes now are politically less risky for the administration and Democrats in Congress.  The report notes that courts have been receptive to arguments that regulators failed to properly analyze the costs of their regulations. Tom Quaadman, vice president of the U.S. Chamber’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness, is quoted saying, regulators have had their wrists slapped by the courts and now it is up to them to “get it right.”

Worth the read…

• Boehner ‘Confident’ GOP, Obama Can Reach Deal on Immigration Reform – The Hill
• Entrepreneurship Is Not War – Forbes
• The Future of Small Business in Obama’s Second Term – Christian Science Monitor
• EU Renews Call for US Trade Pact – Financial Times
• 3 Rookie Entrepreneurial Mistakes from ‘Start-Ups: Silicon Valley” – Entrepreneur
• Taiwanese Entrepreneurs Saying Goodbye to the U.S., Hello to China – Forbes
• Talking Turkey About Working on Thanksgiving – Fox Business
• The Technologies That Got Them Through the Storm – The New York Times
• As Nor’easter Dumps Snow, Gas Rationing Comes to New York – CNN
• Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed – Huffington Post