The bottom line

Cattle prices hit a record high

After ranches in the American West were hit by two straight years of drought, live-cattle prices have hit a record high of $1.34 a pound for February delivery. Food and restaurant prices are likely to rise in the coming months because beef supplies are scarcer.

The Wall Street Journal

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The top 1 percent's new tax rate

Under the agreement that avoided the fiscal cliff, the top 1 percent of U.S. taxpayers—those with annual income of roughly $500,000—will pay an effective federal tax rate of just over 36 percent, more than at any time since 1979.

TheAtlantic.com

The rising cost of college textbooks

College textbooks have risen in price by 812 percent since 1978, far outpacing even the 559 percent increase in tuition and fees over the same period. The average student at a four-year college pays $655 per year for textbooks and supplies.

HuffingtonPost.com

Carbon emissions fall

Carbon emissions from U.S. power plants were 12 percent lower in 2012 than at their peak in 2007, even though the economy is now larger. Emissions last year were about the same as they were in 1995, largely because cheaper domestic natural gas has supplanted dirtier coal in power plants.

Reason.com

Which microwave would you buy?

In equipping its Washington headquarters with solely U.S.-made products, the Alliance for American Manufacturing found that the cheapest domestically manufactured microwave retails for $550. That’s 10 times the price of Walmart’s least expensive offering from Asia, which goes for $55.

The National Journal