Econ70

In the year ending 3/19, foreign purchases of US residential real estate declined to $77.90 billion, down from a peak of $153.01 billion two years ago, their weakest level in six years. Chinese buying activity declined the most; by 50%…

I’m not sure what problem Facebook’s newly proposed cryptocurrency, Libra, solves. For those with a bank account and credit card, Libra solves no problem. For the unbanked, theoretically it’s great, but how do you buy Libra absent a credit card…

During the first nine months of FY2019, the deficit rose $140 billion, or 23.1%, to $747.1 billion. Meanwhile, revenues totaled $2.61 trillion, up 3%, while spending hit $3.36 trillion, up 7%, both record highs. The jump in receipts included a…

The Friday File: Tomorrow at 4:17pm EDT is the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s lunar landing! Armstrong subsequently set foot on the Moon at 10:56pm EDT; Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later. That ended the Space Race…

June retail sales rose a surprising 0.4% and are probably running at their best sustained pace in five years! June manufacturing activity rose a solid 0.4%, June job growth was excellent, and the trade wars are calming down. All this…

Border apprehensions steadily rose from essentially nothing in 1960 to slightly over 1.5 million/year from 1996 through 2000. Apprehensions then steadily declined to a low of about 400,000/year in 2010 through 2018. However, in 2019, border apprehensions are way up…

OPEC and Russia recently extended a production cap until 3/20. However, OPEC’s share of global production is 39.2%, down from 42.2%, while US share is 14.5%, up from 10.9%. To date, most of the decline has resulted from sharp involuntary…

Chinese imports sagged a stunning 7.3% in June, suggesting weak demand. Moreover, auto sales fell for a 12th straight month in June and YTD are at their weakest since 2015. Also, June producer prices were flat, the weakest showing since…

The Friday File: Based on data through 2018, India, in 2014, had the largest number of registered voters for a national democratic election with 834,101,479. The US is a distant second with 214,109,367 registered voters in 2016. Indonesia is not…

Historically, new housing led to more local shopping, and thus higher local sales tax revenues. But due to online shopping, that relationship has been attenuated. Moreover, there is now heightened demand for downtown office space rather than suburban office parks.…