The Bowtie Economist's Daily Dose of 70-Word Wisdom
Alien Activity
The Friday File: Since 1974, there have been almost 90,000 reported UFO sightings worldwide, most in the USA! Washington State is number one in sightings per capita (and number two in total sightings behind California) followed closely by Montana and…
Read MoreAbominable Abodes
Today’s housing numbers stank! Starts for Jan-June 2014 are up 6% compared to 2013, single-family starts up 1%! Multifamily is up 18%. With these numbers a premature rate hike will kill single-family construction. Yes, weather was bad, prices are up,…
Read MorePeppy Profits
Tax inversion deals, where a US firm buys a foreign-based firm in a low tax nation and then locates the merged firm’s headquarters overseas, are particularly appealing for drug and computer chip makers. It’s because both generate substantial overseas profits…
Read MoreMixed Messages
While the unemployment rate, inflation rate, and job creation numbers are starting to improve, GDP growth, wage growth, labor force participation, labor productivity and home building remain weak. It’s as if the economy is schizophrenic! Since the Fed has no…
Read MoreTroubled Timing
While the CBO projects the Export-Import Bank will make a profit of $14 billion through 2024 if it continues borrowing at the subsidized US Treasury rate, at market interest rates the Bank will post a $2 billion loss. While hardly…
Read MoreHurricane Henrietta
The Friday File: While Atlantic hurricane names have alternated between the sexes since 1979, it turns out hurricanes with women’s names are much more deadly. While names don’t matter for low-damage hurricanes, for high-damage storms the more feminine the name…
Read MoreSorry Settlement
While Citi will soon pay $7 billion to settle with the DOJ over mortgage abuses, and BNP Paribas just paid $9 billion for violations of US sanctions, and recently JP Morgan paid $13 billion over various residential-backed mortgage securities, the…
Read MoreHighway Happenings
In a display of bi-partisan common sense rarely seen on Capitol Hill, short-term financing to help the virtually depleted Highway Trust Fund (HTF) through next year seems likely. The HTF is financed by a gas tax of 18.4 cents/gallon that…
Read MorePopping Prices
With bank lending very weak outside of commercial and industrial loans, global growth lackluster, Europe on the verge of deflation, a slightly appreciating US dollar and the number of unemployed workers still elevated, conditions don’t suggest a rapid rise in…
Read MoreGuessing Growth
Q2 GDP will come in below 3%. While inventories were a killer in Q1 they will help in Q2, as will a return to normal weather. There will also be extra spending due to rebounding demand following the Q1 cold…
Read MoreRecent Posts
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