Econ70

The Friday File: While there are many business models used by retail clothing stores, such as fast fashion (H&M), haute couture, pret-a-porte, single-label (Polo), height & weight specific, discount (Marshall’s), and others, all involve a mark-up. I suggest that the…

Economists frequently talk about annual GDP growth and whether it will be 2% or 2.5% or 3%. These may seem like very small differences, but over time they are huge. Assuming population growth is 1%/year, it takes an excruciating 70…

The male labor force participation rate for those aged 25-54 has fallen from 97.9% in 1954 to 88%. With a Bachelor’s degree or more the rate is 94%, for those with some college the rate’s 88%, and for those with…

The total US debt is $19.9 trillion. Of that, $5.5 trillion is owned by the government (like the Social Security Trust Fund) and $14.4 is held by the public. Of the public part, $6.175 trillion is held by foreigners. Japan…

While December job creation was mildly disappointing at 156,000, the real story was the large 0.4% rise in monthly wage growth and the 2.9% rise in Y-o-Y wage growth, the largest Y-o-Y gain since 6/09. Moreover, job gains for October…

The Friday File: The top 25 last names now cover 8.7% of US the population, up from 8.6% in 2000. Similarly, the most popular 239 last names cover one-quarter of the population, down from 244 in 2000. Smith remains the…

In 2015, the percentage of those 18 to 34 living with their parents was 39.5%, the highest level since 1940 when it was 40.9%. Of course, 1940 was one year removed from the end of the Depression. The rate then…

For those of you with perfect hindsight, 2016 was a financial feast! You invested in natural gas, which jumped 57.6%, diesel fuel, which bounced 53.8%, and crude oil, which rose 45%. You also brilliantly invested in the Brazilian stock market,…

Today, 49% of firms in the S&P 500 are rated as “buy”, 45% are rated as “hold” and just 6% are rated as “sell”. This is a travesty! This past year, despite being a good one for equities, 30% of…