Econ70
The Brown-Vitter proposal to force banks with assets over $500 billion to hold roughly double the capital of smaller banks, is overly simplistic. Big banks should be forced to hold extra capital to eliminate any “Too Big to Fail” funding…
Read MoreSince the previous GDP peak in 12/07, real GDP has risen 3.18% or about $400 billion, yet total employment is down by 2.07% or about 2.9 million persons. This is because today’s workers are more productive. How much more? In…
Read MoreDespite residential construction being on the mend, its contribution to GDP is tiny. During Q1 2013, the value of new single family construction was just $157 billion, or 0.98% of GDP, while residential improvements contributed $161 billion or 1%. This…
Read MoreThe Friday File: Every percentage point increase in state income taxes faced by free-agent baseball players raises their salary by $22,500/year. By contrast, the same tax increase reduces slightly the average skill level of free-agent basketball player signings. It’s because…
Read MoreSince 3/12 the unemployment rate has fallen 0.6%, and the labor-force participation rate (LFPR) has fallen by 0.5%. If by 3/14 the LFPR falls another 0.5%, it would take only 107,000 new jobs/month to get the unemployment rate down another…
Read MoreThree weeks ago, the United Nations voted to link arms sales to the human rights record of the buyers. While superficially appealing, this treaty is worthless. The treaty only covers exports (not imports), countries that didn’t vote for the treaty…
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