Month: December 2011
I want to take this opportunity to thank you all very much for your interest in my blog. I also wish you and yours all the best for 2012. May it be a year of health, joy, laughter and prosperity…
Read MoreWith the presidential primaries about to begin, what makes me nuts is watching Republican presidential contenders like Perry and Romney endlessly argue over who created more jobs as governor, including, gasp, government jobs. Yet out of the other side of…
Read MoreThe labor market is suffering from sclerosis. While employers are no longer firing workers – the percentage of workers laid off or fired in 10/11 was lower than in ’07, before the recession – they also aren’t hiring. Similarly, few…
Read MoreI am sure you will be delighted to learn that US banks earned profits of $35 billion in Q3 ’11, their best showing since before the recession. The up-tick is primarily due to banks putting aside less to cover bad…
Read MoreFarmland prices have doubled since ’06. The cost per acre in IA is now almost $7,000/acre up 32% since ’10. Inflation adjusted prices are higher now than in the late ‘70s which precipitated the farm bust of the 80s. Prices…
Read MoreCensus reports that 97.3 million Americans are now classified as low-income; earning between 100% and 199% of the poverty level. Together with the 49.1 million who are at or below the poverty level, these groups total 146.4 million Americans; 48%…
Read MoreWith the troops all out of Iraq, we can now ask what the war cost. While not easy to estimate, if you include spending to date, VA costs, veterans disability payments, interest on the war debt, foreign assistance, future medical…
Read MoreThe Friday File: Times are so tough the Queen of England is feeling it. She is set to receive £30 million/year for the next several years, down from the £77.3 million she received some time ago. Worse, Prince Charles who…
Read MoreThe Friday File: Times are so tough the Queen of England is feeling it. She is set to receive £30 million/year for the next several years, down from the £77.3 million she received some time ago. Worse, Prince Charles who…
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