The recently proposed $45 billion takeover of Time Warner by Comcast should be allowed. Combined competition from Verizon, AT&T/Dish, Netflix, DirectTV, Aereo, Google, Amazon, Apple and others should be enough. And while having 30 million households would give Comcast an…
Last week Nobel Prize winning economist Gary Becker died. He was the first to use economics to explain social phenomena including discrimination, crime, divorce and family size. Based on observations over time and across cultures he concluded that the less…
The Friday File: No matter how measured, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport which handled 45.8 million passenger boardings in 2012 is the busiest airport in the US. O’Hare is next at 32.2 million followed by LAX at 31.3, Miami at 30.2, Dallas-Fort…
At 350,000 starts/year, multifamily housing activity has largely returned to pre-recession levels. However, at 650,000 starts/year single-family activity remains mired in levels only seen in recessions, despite an economy about to enter the sixth year of a recovery. Were single-family…
The March trade deficit narrowed from $41.9 billion to $40.4 billion; good news. The better news, exports at $193.9 are at their second highest level ever and are 17% above their pre-recession high. Imports, while hitting a new all-time high…
Pfizer’s $106.4 billion buyout offer of British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is being largely driven by high US corporate taxes. At yearend 2013, Pfizer had $70 billion of overseas earnings that, if repatriated, would result in huge US taxes. Buying AstraZeneca…
A rise in the minimum wage is likely to have uneven impacts across states. In states where the minimum is already above the federal minimum wage, such as California, Connecticut, Oregon and Washington, the impacts of a rise will be…
The Friday File: In 2012, all-source betting on the 138th Kentucky Derby and the 12 race undercard totaled a record $187 million, with $133.1 million bet on just the Kentucky Derby. Last year, the totals were slightly lower at $184.6…
According to one measure, later this year China will overtake the US as the world’s largest economy, a spot held by the US since 1872. The measure used is purchasing power parity and it’s highly subjective and assumption laden. Worse,…
The first estimate of Q1 2014 GDP growth came in at a miserable 0.1%, surprising even the most pessimistic. The good news, household spending was up 3% and boosted GDP by 2.04%, its third best contribution in four years! The…