Econ70

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

As recently as 1996, 34% of Hispanics dropped out of high school. By 2016, the rate was just 10%! Similarly, the rate for blacks declined from 16% to 7%, while the rate for whites fell from 8% to 5%. Asians…

Global economic growth is expected to be 3.6% this year and 3.7% next year, up pleasantly from 3.2% in 2016. Better yet, all 15 nations that the IMF individually follows are growing. As for the US, after 1.5% growth last…

The Friday File: While 13% of Americans consider themselves superstitious, among those 18-25, 18% are and 15% of those 30-44 are. Among those 45-64, it’s 11%, and for those over 64, it’s 6%. Interestingly, 35% consider picking up a penny…

While the number of job openings declined slightly in August to 6.08 million from July’s all-time high of 6.14 million, quit rates remain relatively low. Since 10/16, quit rates have vacillated between 2.1% and 2.2%, and are barely above the…

US households spent slightly less than $2,000 on gasoline in 2016, the lowest inflation-adjusted amount since 2003. The lowest amount spent on gasoline since 1980 was $1,500 in 1998, while the highest was about $3,300 in 1980 and 2012. However,…