Econ70

Despite Internet apps like TaskRabbit, Fiverr, and Uber that more easily than ever afford people the opportunity to work for themselves, the share of Americans who are self-employed has declined to 6.5% today, from 7.7% in 2005 and 8.5% in…

Emerging market economies that export substantial raw materials face difficult choices. If they reduce interest rates, their currencies fall, inflation rises, capital quickly leaves and living standards decline. If they raise rates to protect their currency, investment and manufacturing will…

Friday’s employment data was good. The unemployment rate fell from 5.3% to 5.1%, employment growth in June and July was revised up, hours worked rose, the labor force participation rate didn’t fall and August earnings/hour rose 0.3%, 0.1% more than…

The Friday File: With Mount McKinley now Denali, the tallest presidential peak in the USA is Colorado’s Mount Lincoln at 14,293 ft. (23rd tallest in US), followed by Washington’s Mount Adams at 12,281, Oregon’s Mount Jefferson at 10,497, NH’s Mount…

The combination of falling global and tepid US growth has resulted in very low long-run inflation expectations which has caused long-term interest rates to continue falling. Moreover, the Fed will soon raise short-term rates. This will marginally reduce bank incentives…

Annualized seasonally adjusted US auto sales hit 17.8 million last month, despite recent stock market gyrations. It was the single best month since 07/05, with the average transaction price hitting $33,543, 3.4% higher Y-o-Y, on booming pickup/cross-over/minivan/SUV sales, which were…

Crude prices jumped 25% between 8/27/15 and 8/31/15, it’s best performance in decades! During that period OPEC said it would trim output if non-OPEC members would, data suggest US production in 6/15 was down to 9.3 million bbl/day its lowest…

While US consumer spending, job growth and Q2 GDP are strong, European inflation is stuck at 0.2%/year, Japanese GDP fell 0.4% in Q2/15, Indian growth was a disappointing 7% in Q2/15 and China continues slowing. This means central banks in…

The Friday File: The highest paid actress between 6/1/14-6/1/15 was Jennifer Lawrence, earning $52 million, followed by Scarlett Johansson at $35.5 million. 10th on the list, Kristen Stewart at $12 million. The top man, Robert Downey, Jr. at $80 million,…

Today’s revised estimate of Q2 GDP to 3.7% puts it into the top fifth of all quarters since 2006. Most of the increase was due to improved June data, suggesting the economy strengthened as the quarter progressed. Consumer spending, the…