Econ70
Despite starts declining for a second straight month, yesterday’s housing numbers were pretty good. Year-to-date starts are up 3.7%, with single-family starts up a solid 8.6% and at their best level since 2/16. While multifamily starts fell a staggering 38%…
Read MoreWhen low copay generic drugs face identical higher copay patent drugs, patients buy generics. If, however, the brand-name drug comes with a coupon reducing the copay below that of the generic drug copay, patent drug sales rise. Regrettably, the coupon…
Read MoreCoal, natural gas and oil fueled the industrial revolution and continue to fuel economic growth, raising living standards and life expectancy. They also create societal costs in the form of air and water pollution, road congestion and more. Most of…
Read MoreGDP growth remains weak a decade after the start of the Great Recession. It’s not because the recession was caused by a financial meltdown, but because labor force growth is weak due to slowing population growth, educational attainment is plateauing,…
Read MoreCheck out Elliot’s comments about property ITT owns and what’s to become of it. Read more here.
Read MoreThe Friday File: 103 years after awarding the Nobel prize in literature to Bengali songwriter Rabindranath Tagore, the 2016 prizewinner is Bob Dylan. He’s put out 79 albums and sold over 125 million copies. He’s the first American to win…
Read MoreLast week’s first time claims for unemployment totaled just 246,000, the best reading this year and the best reading since 11/24/73! The four-week moving average, which reduces week-to-week volatility, was just 249,250, the lowest level since 11/3/73, almost 43 years…
Read MoreWith elections right around the corner, tax proposals are surfacing like mushrooms after a rainstorm. While we can all agree that the current tax code is a disaster, the most recent proposals regrettably range from just bad to positively dreadful.…
Read MoreAmong the 33 major democratic industrialized nations, the average tax burden, including all federal, state and local taxes, is 34.4% of GDP. The highest tax-burdened nation is Denmark, where taxes are an amazing 50.9%. Next comes France at 45.2% and…
Read MoreWhile Friday’s job report showed 156,000 net new jobs created in September, below expectations of 168,000, private sector job growth was 167,000, barely under the 170,000 expected. Separately, the labor force participation rate increased to 62.9% from 62.8%, driving up…
Read More