Archive for October 2017

Between 1300 and 1850, 80,000 people were tried for witchcraft in Europe. Half the trials and executions took place between 1560 and 1630, during the Protestant Reformation. On a per capita basis, Switzerland held the most trials, 980/100,000 people, and killed over 6,000 witches, 60% of those tried, easily the highest percentage. Scotland followed with…

The US economy easily shook off the effects of recent hurricanes and GDP in 17Q3 rose by 3% following a 3.1% rise in 17Q2, the best two-quarter performance since mid-2014. That said, Y-o-Y GDP growth is still just 2.3% and inflation remained weak, with the Fed’s preferred measure rising at a rate of just 1.5%…

The Friday file: It takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup, and each tree produces 15 gallons of sap/year. 72% of global maple syrup comes from Quebec, down from 82% in 2003. Trees can only be tapped when nighttime temperatures fall below 32°F but are above that during the day.…

New home sales in September came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 667,000, the highest level since 10/07! Sales were up 18.9% from August, the largest monthly percentage gain in almost 28 years. While some of the 26% sales rise in the South to 405,000, representing 61% of all new home sales, was…

The latest report on the nation’s major entitlement programs, accounting for 42% of all federal government spending, are sobering. The Social Security trust fund will be emptied in 2034 and Medicare (Part A, hospital care) in 2029. 50 million Americans receive SS and 57 million receive Medicare Part A. Once depleted, retirement benefits will be…

In 2015, the top 1% of individual filers, those with AGIs (adjusted gross incomes) of at least $480,930, earned 20.65% of total AGI and paid 39.04% of all federal income taxes. The top 5% had AGIs of $195,778 and paid 59.58% of total income taxes and the top 10%, with AGIs of more than $138,030,…

In FY2017, the federal deficit widened to $666 billion or 3.5% of GDP, up from $586 billion or 3.2% of GDP in FY2016. The deficit has averaged 3.1% over the last 40 years. While receipts rose to $3.315 trillion, up from $3.267 trillion in FY2016, expenditures hit $3.981 trillion or 20.7% of GDP, up from…

The Friday File: For the year ending 6/17, the world’s highest paid athlete was soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, who earned $93 million, followed by LeBron James, who brought home $86 million. Another soccer player, Lionel Messi was third with $80 million while tennis star Roger Federer was fourth at $64 million. The top 100 athletes…

At present, China’s non-financial debt is 210% of its GDP. When Japan’s economy collapsed in 1992, its ratio was 210%, and when Spain collapsed less than a decade ago, their non-financial debt-to-GDP ratio was 215%. While shrinking the ratio is easy, doing so without slowing economic growth is impossible. Thus, each time China attempts to…

The decision over who will lead the Fed is down to four candidates. Janet Yellen is probably in second place behind current Fed governor Jerome Powell. He would continue Yellen’s policy of gradually raising rates but would have a lighter regulatory touch. John Taylor is in third, followed by former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, both…