World War I ended on November 11th at 11:00am, making yesterday the 100th anniversary of the armistice. It’s known as the Great War, as the number killed and wounded was unfathomably high. The last soldier killed; American Henry Gunter at…
The Friday File: This week, Michigan became the 10th state to legalize recreational weed. In 1969, 12% of Americans favored legalization, it hit 50% in 2011, and it’s now 66%. 75% of Democrats favor legalization, it’s 71% for Independents, and…
According to the Conference Board, consumer confidence rose to 137.9 in October, its highest level since 9/00. According to the University of Michigan, consumer confidence is at 98.60, down slightly from the 3/18 reading of 101.4, the best reading since…
With Republicans holding the Senate and Democrats taking the House, expect meaningful economic policy changes to take a break through 2020. Congress must ratify NAFTA 2.0 and the debt ceiling must be raised, and those will undoubtedly be accompanied by…
Last week, the Employment-Cost Index, which looks quarterly at wages and benefits paid to civilian workers, and another survey that looks at hourly earnings/month both showed wages rising at an annual rate of 3.1%, the fastest since 08Q3 and 9/09,…
Following a weak September in which job creation totaled a mere 118,000, October’s 250,000 was a pleasant surprise. Job growth over the last three months has averaged a robust 218,000. Moreover, every sector gained employment. Better yet, the unemployment rate…
The Friday File: Last week, India unveiled The Statue of Unity, which at 597 feet, is the world’s tallest statue, unseating The Spring Temple Buddah in China at 502 feet. Falling to third, The Ushiku Daibutsu in Japan at 394…
In 1995, there were 684.5 incidents of violent crime per 100,000 persons. That rate steadily declined through 2014 when it hit a low of 361.6, a staggering decline of 47.2%. Since 2014, the rate has risen and is now 394/100,000,…
If you eat enough candy, like anything else, it can be lethal. Given that the average fun-size candy bar has 9.3 grams of sugar and the average American weighs about 180 pounds, you would have to consume 5.4 pounds of…
In 18Q3, the vendor most popularly expensed by business travelers in North America was Uber, accounting for 11% of all transactions. Starbucks followed with 4.09%, while Amazon was third at 4.05%. Delta, American Airlines, Lyft, United Airlines, Walmart, Shell and…