Argentina is suffering a classic currency collapse. They usually happen like this: A sudden currency decline, usually the result of bad policy, causes imported goods (like oil and food) to dramatically rise. That reduces living standards, pushing workers to demand…
August’s employment gain of 130,000 jobs was weaker than it looks as it includes 25,000 temporary Census workers. Moreover, payrolls were collectively revised down by 20,000 for June and July. But, pay increases appear to be strengthening, the unemployment rate…
The Friday File: The world’s tallest unsupported flag pole is 560 feet high in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, just ahead of the Dushanbe, Tajikistan flagpole at 541 feet. Next is the National Flag Square flagpole in Baku, Azerbaijan at 531 feet.…
In a move sure to please nobody, the Trump administration proposes privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, without making it harder or more costly to get a mortgage, by backstopping the companies with lines of credit in return for fees.…
In another sign the US economy is cooling, manufacturing activity contracted in August for the first time since 8/16 and is at its lowest level since 1/16 (when we didn’t enter a recession). The US now joins Germany, Japan, South…
The problem with the recently created “Opportunity Zones” or the possibility of indexing capital gains against inflation is that it creates different tax rates for marginally different types of investment. Like nations that have complex exchange rate regimes, these tax…
The Friday File: Last week, Bob Long won the Mongol Derby. What’s so amazing is that Mr. Long, originally from Cheyenne, Wyoming, is 70 years old, and the Mongol Derby is the longest multi-horse race in the world at 1,000…
The largest CO2 emitter is China with 29.3% of the global total. The US follows with 13.8%, then India at 6.6%, Russia at 4.8%, and Japan at 3.6%. Since 1990, total emissions have risen by 63.5%. Chinese emissions are 354%…
There are two huge trends the US is experiencing that receive scant attention. The first: plummeting fertility. Population growth due to birth over deaths in 2018 was 1 million, and keeps declining, down from 1.9 million as recently as 2007.…
The last recession was housing-bubble induced, the recession before dotcom-bubble induced. Now, there’s no one thing that jumps out. Trade is huge, so are political shocks; look at Brexit, the crises in Italy, India, Japan/South Korea, and Hong Kong! Add…