Month: February 2019

In 2017, the latest year for which data are available, debit and credit cards accounted for 62.3% of all payments by dollars spent, up from 53% in 2012. Next was cash at 15.5%, down from 19%. Electronic payments that completely…

December housing starts came in at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.08 million; the worst level since 9/16! Worse, starts for October and November were revised down. However, CY2018 starts were up 3.6% compared to CY2017. Moreover, rates have fallen…

In 2018, there were 3,853,472 births, the lowest level in 30 years, and the fertility rate was 60.2/1,000 women aged 15-44, a record low. For those 15-19, there were 18.8 births/1,000, another record low. As for abortions, in 2013, 958,700…

The Green New Deal’s plan to upgrade all buildings to “maximum energy efficiency” will cost about $285/ton of CO2 removed. To achieve 100% renewable energy in 10-years is minimally expected to cost $85/ton of CO2 withdrawn. For comparison purposes, power…

The Friday File: Last year, the Oscars were viewed by 26.5 million persons, the lowest viewership total this century. Since 2001, viewership peaked in 2014 at 43.7 million. That year capped a 14-year run where viewership averaged 39.5 million. It’s…

If 2019 real GDP growth is 2%, inflation holds at 2%, and unemployment falls no lower than 3.7% such that Y-o-Y wage growth stays around 3%, the Fed keeps rates unchanged. If growth rises above 2.3%, and unemployment falls below…

A marginal tax rate of 70% on income over $10 million would raise about $380 billion between 2020 and 2029. But if changes in taxpayer behavior are accounted for, revenue falls to about $350 billion. Assuming high-income owners of pass-through…

Last year, Airbus booked 747 new orders and delivered 800, the first time since 2009 that deliveries exceeded new orders. Boeing booked 893 net new orders and made 806 deliveries. Both firms’ total deliveries of 1,606 were a new high.…

In 2018, a volatile year for markets, just 38% of actively managed US stock funds outperformed their passively managed (indexed) counterparts, down from 46% in 2017, a placid year. Over the past decade, just 26% of actively managed funds beat…

The Friday File: In 2000, the average Billboard Top 100 song was 250 seconds, it’s since steadily declined and is now 210 seconds. Why? Each time a song is streamed the artist receives roughly half-a-cent/song, not per minute! Moreover, since…