Econ70
Heavier cars are safer for their occupants, but more dangerous for all others. The baseline chance of being killed, given that you are in a collision, is one in 500. If you now increase the weight of one of the…
Last year I made predictions; some right others wrong. Unless you know how good my predictions were, valuing them going forward is meaningless. With that in mind, I am pleased to inform you that 24 of my 32 ‘11 predictions…
I want to take this opportunity to thank you all very much for your interest in my blog. I also wish you and yours all the best for 2012. May it be a year of health, joy, laughter and prosperity…
With the presidential primaries about to begin, what makes me nuts is watching Republican presidential contenders like Perry and Romney endlessly argue over who created more jobs as governor, including, gasp, government jobs. Yet out of the other side of…
The labor market is suffering from sclerosis. While employers are no longer firing workers – the percentage of workers laid off or fired in 10/11 was lower than in ’07, before the recession – they also aren’t hiring. Similarly, few…
I am sure you will be delighted to learn that US banks earned profits of $35 billion in Q3 ’11, their best showing since before the recession. The up-tick is primarily due to banks putting aside less to cover bad…
Farmland prices have doubled since ’06. The cost per acre in IA is now almost $7,000/acre up 32% since ’10. Inflation adjusted prices are higher now than in the late ‘70s which precipitated the farm bust of the 80s. Prices…
Census reports that 97.3 million Americans are now classified as low-income; earning between 100% and 199% of the poverty level. Together with the 49.1 million who are at or below the poverty level, these groups total 146.4 million Americans; 48%…
On 1/1/13 $1.2 trillion in spending cuts commence, the $3.8 trillion Bush tax cuts end and if the 2% Social Security payroll tax holiday is extended, it too will end. Including reduced interest costs these events reduce the deficit by…
With the troops all out of Iraq, we can now ask what the war cost. While not easy to estimate, if you include spending to date, VA costs, veterans disability payments, interest on the war debt, foreign assistance, future medical…