Econ70

Existing-home sales jumped in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 6.76 million, the highest level since 2006. Usually, sales weaken in December but due to Covid-19 seasonality has disappeared. Had December’s sales of 540,000 occurred in July,…

The Fed, the ECB, and the BoJ have collectively increased balance sheets by $8 trillion since Sars-Cov-2’s debut. Last recession, it took the same central banks eight years to accumulate that much. With such large reserves, higher rates due to…

In December, housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.67 million, their best since 9/06 and up 5.2% Y-o-Y. Single-family activity was up 28% Y-o-Y, multifamily starts fell 39%, both percentages being strongly Covid-19 influenced. Total starts…

The Friday File: This past Wednesday, not only did President and Dr. Jill Biden move into the White House, but so did Major, a three-year old rescue German Shepard, and Champ, a 13-year old German Shepard, the First Canines. There…

Higher taxes are probably in the offing but not right now. Raising taxes while crawling out from Sars-Cov-2 is unwise. And, with razor thin majorities in both chambers and Republicans against higher taxes, the entire Democratic caucus in each chamber…

FDR was the first president to be sworn in on January 20th. It had been March 20th until then, but the 20th amendment changed that. Harry Truman’s second inauguration (pollsters expected Dewey’s first) was the first to be televised, Carter…

For the year ending 7/1/20, the US population grew just 0.35%, the slowest rate since at least 1900! Part of the reason is Covid-19 related, but the entire decade was a demographic bust due to an aging population and limited…

Initial weekly jobless claims, a proxy for job losses, rose by 181,000, its biggest rise since 8/22/20, almost five months ago. Moreover, retail sales fell for the third straight month, consumer confidence slipped slightly, and inflation be it the CPI,…

Series Streaming The Friday File: Across Amazon, Disney+, Hulu and Netflix (but not HBO Max) the most streamed series was The Office at 57.1 billion minutes. A distant second was Grey’s Anatomy at 39.4, followed by Criminal Minds with 35.4.…

Prior to Covid-19, US retail vacancy rates were 4.5%. They are now 5.4% and are expected to end 2021 at 6.2%. As a result, retail rents, which had been rising by 2% per/year before the pandemic, are now expected to…