The Bowtie Economist's Daily Dose of 70-Word Wisdom

The Friday File: In 2024 it cost 3.7 cents to make a penny; 2006 was when it last cost less than a penny to make one. In 2024 the mint produced 3.2 billion pennies and lost $85.3 million in the…

If additional 25% tariffs are imposed on Canada/Mexico, along with the recently imposed 10% tariff on China, that likely leads to a 0.75 percentage point increase in inflation. If 60% tariffs are imposed on China and full reciprocal tariffs are…

How much fraud is there in the federal government? A GAO report dated 4/24, pre-Trump, suggests somewhere between $233 billion and $521 billion in direct annual financial losses from fraud, based on a review of FY18-FY22 data. The report finds…

Seventy-three thousand homes were pulled from sale in December, representing almost 1 in 10 homes on the market, a 64% Y-o-Y surge, and the biggest December jump since 2015. There is clearly significantly more desire to sell than buy. This…

January retail sales were down a substantial 0.9%, the biggest monthly decline in almost two years and well worse than the expected 0.2% decline. Car sales fell, as did sales at most stores. There have been occasional blooper months since…

The Friday File: In 1983, Alexa was the 745th most popular name with about 200 girls receiving it. It then steadily rose, peaking in 2006 at 39th most popular, with over 6,100 girls given the name. By 2014, when Amazon…

A recent Home Street report finds climate change will reduce US home values by $1.47 trillion by 2055. Some perspective please: while $1.47 trillion sounds enormous, the current value of US residential property is $52 trillion. If home values rise…

In the first four months of FY25, the budget deficit totaled $838 billion; $306 billion more Y-o-Y. Revenues were $11 billion higher, outlays were $317 billion higher. But some of the increase was due to calendar effects. Absent them the…

By reducing US demand for imports, tariffs reduce the supply of dollars flowing to foreigners. That reduced supply raises the foreign exchange value of the dollar. While a stronger dollar reduces inflation, it makes US exports more expensive. This partly…

January net job growth was a decent 143,000, Nov/Dec were upwardly revised by 100,000, and the unemployment rate fell to 4%, its best level since 5/24. But the workweek slid to 34.1 hours, the lowest reading since 3/20, and quite…