Month: July 2017

Last week, Nobel Peace laureate and strong democracy and freedom advocate, Liu Xiaobo died while in custody in a Beijing hospital, becoming the second Peace Prize winner out of 97 to die in custody. The first was Carl von Ossietzky,…

The Friday File: This morning was the last of eight straight mornings of the running of bulls through Pamplona. Each morning 10 bulls run about 930 yards ending in the Plaza de Toros. 2,000 humans inexplicably run with the bulls.…

In 1980, there were 4,500 public corporations in the US. That number steadily increased, peaking at 7,355 in 11/97. Since then it has steadily declined, and today there are slightly more than 3,500. Most of the decline can be traced…

Despite a growing nuclear threat from North Korea, Korean stocks are up 18% YTD. Improved earnings, a better domestic economy, diminished political uncertainty, and the spectacular performance of Samsung (which accounts for 25% of the index and is now more…

Seattle raised its minimum wage from $9.47/hour to $11/hour in 2015 and $13/hour in 2016. While the first increase had minimal employment impact, the second damaged low-wage workers. At $13/hour, the number of low-wage hours worked declined by a whopping…

With 222,000 net new jobs in June and upward revisions totaling 47,000 for April and May, job creation is back on track with gusto! YTD job gains/month are averaging 180,000 and total 2.24 million Y-o-Y! The unemployment rate rose slightly…

The Friday File: In 2015, the latest year for which reliable estimated data is available, pornography was a $3.3 billion/year industry in the USA and $10 billion/year globally. Revenue growth has been below 1%/year for the last five years and…

While the unemployment rate of 4.3% is at its lowest level since 5/01, 2.5%/year wage growth is very weak. Why? Here are several reasons. Declining US unionization rates and high unemployment rates in Europe and elsewhere have reduced worker bargaining…

With data for 17Q1 now official, Australia just enjoyed its 103rd consecutive quarter without a recession, the casual definition of which is two consecutive quarters of negative growth. That ties Australia with the Netherlands for second place in world history.…

The Revolutionary War commenced on 4/19/1775 at Lexington and Concord, MA and effectively ended with the surrender of the British by General Cornwallis at Yorktown, VA on 10/19/1781. During the war 6,800 Americans were killed in action and another 17,000…