Econ70

Housing starts continued falling in June, dropping 0.5% Y-o-Y from 6/24’s already depressed level and are at their worst June level (outside Covid) since 2019. Making matters worse, single-family activity fell 4.6% M-o-M, after falling 2.3% in May and is…

The Friday File: The NBA LA Lakers recently sold for $10 billion. While a fortune, in time it’ll probably be considered a bargain. A recently constructed investment index of NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL teams shows that owners of clubs…

Since 1/20/25, the average effective tariff on US imported goods has risen from 2.5% to now 16.6% and importantly, above Liberation Day levels. Trump 1.0 lifted from just 1.5%. If the current 8/1/25 tariffs come to pass, the tariff rate…

June Y-o-Y inflation was 2.7%, up from 2.4% in May, while core CPI rose 2.9%, up from 2.8% in May. Prior to this month, inflation had been on a slow but steady decline. While the evidence is clearly mixed, car…

Since 2000, labor productivity has risen by 54%, during the same period output/worker in construction has fallen 8%. It’s due to a combination of fragmentation due to overregulation leading to underinvestment. Research has shown that construction firms with over 500…

While the OBBBA is economically only marginally stimulative, and only in the short run, the recent 12% slide in the greenback is akin to hefty interest rate cut. Also, OPEC’s recent announcement of an increase in production should further reduce…

The Friday File: While some may try a cannonball or belly flop, there’s science to help make the biggest splash. At the Manu World Champs tournament in New Zealand, the winner made a splash 33.1 feet high. Enter the water…

Harvard faces a $1 billion budget shortfall/year should Trump follow through on his threats spanning research, taxes, and enrollment. At 5%, Harvard’s $53 billion endowment yields $2.5 billion/year. However, in FY24 Harvard drew $2.4 billion from it to fund one-third…

The average age of the US population is 40. In 1970, it was 28, in 1980 it was 30, and in 2020 it was 38. When your workforce stagnates while your retiree population explodes, problems ensue. Currently, there are slightly…

While we can argue if households, firms, or manufacturers effectively pay tariffs, the data is in. From 1/1/25-5/31/25, California businesses paid $11.3 billion in tariffs. Texas was a distant second at $6 billion, then Michigan at $3.3 billion. 14 more…