Econ70
If Congress accepts President Obama’s proposal to expand preschool programs it would go against the vast majority of research that finds programs like Head Start deliver few if any lasting benefits. That said, if we do it, we must devote…
Read MoreTo prevent defaults by sugar processors that borrowed $862 million under a government price-support system, the USDA may purchase 400,000 tons of sugar to prop up prices. Sugar has fallen 18% to 21.03 cents/lb since the loans were made last…
Read MoreThe Cyprus fiasco shows us two things. First, countries that don’t issue their own currency simply cannot guarantee bank deposits as they have no control over their monetary policy. It also shows that monetary unions cannot survive bank runs. The…
Read MoreRetail sales jumped a strong 0.4%, even after subtracting high gas prices, higher building material prices, and autos and groceries. Industrial production was up and is nearing its pre-recession peak and the four-week moving average of initial weekly unemployment claims…
Read MoreThe Friday File: On St. Patrick’s Day we drink 1% of all beer consumed in America, which equals 1.62 pints per/person, so drink up! 34.5 million Americans claim Irish ancestry which is seven times the population of Ireland. The total…
Read MoreYouth unemployment in Spain is 56%, in Greece it is 58%, while in Germany it’s 8%. This should cause a mass influx of youth from these peripheral countries to Germany. Surprisingly, it’s not. Between 1/12 and 6/12 just 3,900 Spaniards…
Read MoreThe amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide emitted in 2011 rose by 3% (a billion tons) from 2010 to 38.2 billion tons. Of the planet’s top 10 polluters, only the USA and Germany reduced emissions. China emitted 10 billion tons, up…
Read MoreWhile the February unemployment rate eased from 7.92% to 7.74%, 40% of the fall resulted from a decline in the civilian labor force of 130,000 due to both the weak economy and retiring Boomers. As a result, the labor force…
Read MoreThe Friday File: Despite being spectacularly counterintuitive, Benford’s Law states that leading digits (the number 8 in 8,456) are unevenly distributed. Benford found that one is the leading digit 31% of the time, two 17% of the time, three 12.5%,…
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