Econ70

Superficially, Great Britain looks good despite Brexit. Unemployment is near a record low, wages are increasing at their fastest pace in a decade, and a huge budget deficit has shrunk. However, best estimates suggest UK GDP is 2% smaller than…

The Friday File: During the first five days retail marijuana stores (there are just two) were open in Massachusetts, from 11/20 through 11/24, customers bought $2.2 million of pot and pot products! The average amount spent per item, such as…

Despite excellent economic growth, rising wages, and the lowest unemployment rate in 49 years, inflation remains quiescent. The Fed’s preferred inflation measure, core personal-consumption expenditure inflation, rose just 1.8% over the past year, and has been around that level, close…

World GDP is equal to roughly $80 trillion in nominal terms. One-quarter comes from the US, another quarter comes from Western Europe (about 20 countries) and Canada, another quarter comes from China (about 60% as big as the US), Japan…

Builder confidence is at its lowest level since 8/16, housing starts peaked in 1/18, and building permits in 3/18. As for existing housing, sales peaked in 11/17, pending sales peaked in 4/16, prices are rising noticeably slower, inventories are rising,…

After hitting almost $20,000 late last year, Bitcoin is now trading at about $3,500/coin. Worse, the amount of computing power used by Bitcoin miners to solve complex equations to earn payment in new Bitcoin, and in the process maintain the…

The Friday File: With GDP under attack for focusing on output and not well-being, look to the 2018 World Happiness Report. The happiest nation is Finland, followed closely by Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland, all small, reasonably homogeneous, wealthy democracies.…

The average American who travels outside their home county for Thanksgiving departs at 3:40pm today and travels 300 miles before arriving at their destination at 9:40pm, where they’ll stay for almost three days. Every $10,000 increase in county median income…

While total household debt rose by $219 billion to $13.51 trillion in 18Q3, the ratio of debt to personal disposable income rose just slightly, from 86% in 18Q2 to 86.54% in 18Q3. This ratio has been remarkably steady since late…

In 18Q3, GDP in Germany (the world’s 4th biggest economy) shrank at a rate of 0.8%/year, Japan’s economy (3rd biggest) shrank at a rate of 1.2%/year, and China (2nd biggest) grew at a rate of 6.5%/year; slowest since 09Q1. US…