The Friday File: After tracking every worker and single-manager firm in Denmark between 1992-2007, researchers found when male managers had a first-born daughter, women’s earnings rose 4.1% compared to males, and women employed at the firm rose by 4.5%. Sons…
Domestically generated inflation due to an overheated economy warrants rate hikes. But with the labor market weak enough that wage growth is declining and is now less than inflation, and with house prices barely rising, a hike is a mistake.…
Over the past year, net share buybacks by public firms totaled $961 billion. Unfortunately, while firms are in a good position to know when their shares are frothy, they don’t act like it. For example, share buybacks peaked at $175…
While the AI investment boom has been a key pillar upholding the US economy in the face of numerous headwinds, roughly 90% of high-tech equipment is imported. In 26Q1, AI hardware spending and capex on software, data center construction, and…
The cost of building parking structures will rise 6% in 2026 to $33,300 per space, a dumbfounding $98.75 per square foot. This is due to material volatility, labor shortages, and new mandates for fire suppression and EV charging. San Francisco…
The Friday File: This storm season, which began 6/1/26, has set the modern record for the longest the Atlantic has gone without a recorded hurricane. The prior record latest date was 9/11 in 2002 (Gustav) and 2013 (Humberto). Only in…
The national median residential rent is down 0.8% Y-o-Y to $1,390/month, the smallest Y-o-Y decline since 7/25. Moreover, Y-o-Y median rent growth has increased four months running after declining 12 straight months and bottoming at -1.6% Y-o-Y in 4/26. Still…
To no one’s surprise, the Fed raised rates 25bps. The more important issue: what follows. Since the Fed began using fed funds as its primary method for shaping rates back in the 1990s, only once has there ever been a…
In August, money spent/employee on tokens averaged $7,200 among firms in the top 1% of AI users. Spending among the top 10% of firms averaged $680/employee and spending at the median firm was just $13/employee. Moreover, after peaking in March,…
While prices have risen about 3%/year lately, consumers may be focused on the fact that through CY2025 they’re up 28% compared to pre-Covid. And here’s the rub. Despite inflation-adjusted wages rising 2.8% since pre-Covid, 34% of workers saw their real…