Econ70
In one of the dumbest economic announcements ever, the G-20 group of industrialized and developing nations has agreed to boost global growth by two percentage points over the next five years; from 3.4% to 5.4%. What puzzles me is if…
The Friday File: It costs the US Mint 1.7 cents to produce a penny, 9.4 cents to mint a nickel. As the Mint makes about five billion pennies/year and one billion nickels/year, those overages sum up to a loss of…
Inflation-adjusted US median household income (MHI) rose to $51,939 in 2013, up $181 from 2012. The problem is that MHI is still slightly less than it was in 1989 — 25 years ago — and MHI is still 9% below…
Congress’ decision to extend the prohibition on states taxing Internet access through early 2015, stinks. Taxing the Internet is great tax policy because few households will reduce their demand for the Internet because it’s taxed. Inability to avoid taxation is…
To the bewilderment of many, economists ignore food and energy prices when considering inflation. Here’s why. Two years ago soybeans were $17.94/bushel because a drought sent prices to all-time highs. Today, due to outstanding weather, front-month soybeans are at $9.90/bushel.…
With the economy still weak, I expect the key phrase that interest rates will remain as is for “considerable time after the asset purchase program ends” to remain in the Fed’s statement following their two-day meeting this Wednesday. Altering this…
The Friday File: The New England Patriots have the priciest average non-playoff game ticket prices at $122 (non-premium) and $566.67 (premium). The NFL averages are $84.43 and $252.06. Costliest brew: Oakland at $10.75, priciest parking, Dallas at $75, costliest hat,…
Scotland’s independence bid assumes using the British Pound and gaining EU admittance. Britain will forbid Scotland from using the Pound and the EU will force Scotland to apply for EU membership and adopt the euro. Scotland could bypass the EU…
In 2010, households headed by those under age 35, the Millenials, had median income of $37,600, now it’s just $35,300. Worse, 41.4% of them have student loans, up from 33.6% in 2007 and 23.3% in 1998 and the balances are…
The combination of falling gas prices, zero percent six-year financing, an aging fleet, and newly styled feature-rich cars is turbo-charging auto sales. Annualized 8/14 sales were a stunning 17.53 million units, up from 15.94 million in 8/13, 11.80 million in…