Month: October 2011
Q3 GDP came in at 2.5%; best performance since Q4 ’10. But, after looking at the economic entrails the number is weaker than it looks. Consumer spending on utilities and healthcare is what drove spending, not discretionary items. Worse, spending…
Read MoreThe Friday File: US academic economists (but not econ bloggers) are adopting a code of ethics requiring them to disclose conflicts of interest by reporting research-funding sources and material financial relationships. This is partly motivated by the documentary “Inside Job”…
Read MoreBritain’s FTSE 100 (like the S&P 500) is a measure of blue-chip respectability signaling good governance, and so on. Now, some businessmen have figured out how to break into this index without a solid record. First, they buy a firm…
Read MoreWhile some are unemployed by choice and some due to a lack of necessary skills, I do not think it’s that many. Here’s why. There are 14 million unemployed and 3.1 million job openings, or 4.6 jobless workers per opening.…
Read MoreChina has 46K miles of highways; we have barely 47K. China plans to build out to 112.5K miles by ’30 yet there are just one-third as many cars in China as here, and worse, Chinese highways have high tolls, to…
Read MoreObama’s latest effort to help underwater homeowners, who are current, refinance at lower rates will help, but, it’s no panacea. Estimates are that a million households will take advantage of this plan and will, on average, save $2,500/year. If all…
Read MoreThe Friday File: The US economy has lost manufacturing jobs as foreigners can often make things more cheaply than we can. What manufacturing remains is increasingly high end; it’s less easily outsourced. But, there are exceptions. In Americus, GA 50…
Read MoreEarlier this week, the Congress passed free trade agreements with Columbia, Panama and South Korea. Passage may be hailed as a political achievement for promoting principals of free trade and for shoring up allies. Unfortunately, it will not do much…
Read MoreBig bank stocks are all down but shares of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley especially so. Regulatory changes like the Volcker Rule prohibiting proprietary trading hurt all big banks but especially GS and MS as they rely more heavily on…
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