Archive for July 2012
Money for Nothing
On 7/5/12 the ECB reduced to zero the rate it pays banks that park excess reserves with it. The Fed is now considering following suit. There are $1.5 trillion of excess reserves at the Fed which if loaned, would help the economy. But the Fed won’t, as it will not increase lending much and would…
Read MoreQE3 Despite Drought
Despite inevitably higher food prices starting this fall, stemming from a severe drought, the Fed will ignore this when they launch a third round of Quantitative Easing in September. It’s because the drought is a short-term event that will probably reverse itself in ‘13. Moreover, groceries are barely 7% of the average family budget, and…
Read MoreVitamin C(hocolate)
The Friday File: Turns out people who eat chocolate on a regular basis (five or more times a week), tend to weigh about 5 to 7 pounds less than those who don’t. The key finding from a recent study was that even though the chocoholics consumed more calories, and did not exercise more than the…
Read MoreDo The Math
Following the collapse of the U.S.S.R., 300 of their top mathematicians moved here. Their impact on American mathematicians was surprising. The number of papers published by American mathematicians whose research was most similar to that of the Russians dropped dramatically, and as a result they were quite likely to move to lower-ranked universities. Other mathematicians…
Read MoreCash or Credit?
While stores have always been able to offer cash-paying customers a discount, the recent settlement with Visa, Mastercard and bank credit-card issuers now allows stores to add a charge (equal to the swipe fee) for credit-card payments. Since stores can now disclose the fee, they suddenly have more leverage to negotiate lower swipe fees. Bet…
Read MoreGoing Nowhere
If you were worried the economy might be treading water, relax, it is. Consumer spending is flat, consumer confidence and manufacturing activity are down and jobless claims are up. Moreover, a key index of leading economic indicators fell two of the last three months and corporate earnings growth has all but stalled. New home sales…
Read MorePaternalistic Policy
Unless welfare recipients are penniless, passing laws prohibiting them from spending their welfare money on booze, gambling, strippers and tattoos is pointless. These laws will simply encourage welfare recipients to spend any cash they earn on the prohibited activities. Even they have no other income, for a discount they can sell their welfare benefits on…
Read MoreA Leg Up
The Friday File: While high heels push weight forward onto the balls of the feet and toes and stress the back and legs, (and hurt) they’re big business. American women spend $40 billion annually on shoes, with half that spending on shoes with at least a three inch heel. Absent platforms, heels higher than 4.5…
Read MoreInflation and Godot
While many are nervous the massively stimulative monetary policy engineered by the Fed will inevitably trigger inflation, those folks are waiting for Godot. Subtracting the current yield on a 10-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) bond (-0.637%) from the current yield on a regular 10-year Treasury bond (1.52%) gets us 2.157%. This means headline inflation…
Read MoreDivinely Different
Why are Americans significantly more religious than Europeans? In Europe, there are state churches that receive subsidies, and thus the clergy focus on politics and perquisites and not proselytizing. In addition, state-sponsored churches face virtually no competition, all but eliminating religious diversity. By contrast, here there’s such intense competition in doctrines, services and levels of…
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