Month: May 2014
With unemployment at 11.8%, GDP growth barely positive, inflation at a microscopic 0.7% and the ECB balance sheet a trillion euro smaller than it was in 7/12, Mario Draghi will finally engage in stimulative monetary policy. While buying sovereign bonds…
Read MoreIn January 2008, the number of working Americans totaled 138,365,000. By the end of this month, that total will be surpassed, and while that’s great news, it’s 77 months later! To keep the unemployment rate from rising due to new…
Read MoreThe recently proposed $45 billion takeover of Time Warner by Comcast should be allowed. Combined competition from Verizon, AT&T/Dish, Netflix, DirectTV, Aereo, Google, Amazon, Apple and others should be enough. And while having 30 million households would give Comcast an…
Read MoreLast week Nobel Prize winning economist Gary Becker died. He was the first to use economics to explain social phenomena including discrimination, crime, divorce and family size. Based on observations over time and across cultures he concluded that the less…
Read MoreThe Friday File: No matter how measured, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport which handled 45.8 million passenger boardings in 2012 is the busiest airport in the US. O’Hare is next at 32.2 million followed by LAX at 31.3, Miami at 30.2, Dallas-Fort…
Read MoreAt 350,000 starts/year, multifamily housing activity has largely returned to pre-recession levels. However, at 650,000 starts/year single-family activity remains mired in levels only seen in recessions, despite an economy about to enter the sixth year of a recovery. Were single-family…
Read MoreThe March trade deficit narrowed from $41.9 billion to $40.4 billion; good news. The better news, exports at $193.9 are at their second highest level ever and are 17% above their pre-recession high. Imports, while hitting a new all-time high…
Read MorePfizer’s $106.4 billion buyout offer of British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is being largely driven by high US corporate taxes. At yearend 2013, Pfizer had $70 billion of overseas earnings that, if repatriated, would result in huge US taxes. Buying AstraZeneca…
Read MoreA rise in the minimum wage is likely to have uneven impacts across states. In states where the minimum is already above the federal minimum wage, such as California, Connecticut, Oregon and Washington, the impacts of a rise will be…
Read MoreThe Friday File: In 2012, all-source betting on the 138th Kentucky Derby and the 12 race undercard totaled a record $187 million, with $133.1 million bet on just the Kentucky Derby. Last year, the totals were slightly lower at $184.6…
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