I want to take this opportunity to thank every one of you very much for your interest in my daily blog and economics. All of you enrich my life in many ways and I am profoundly grateful. I wish you…
Entering 2014, the biggest economic risks include China and its increasing dependence on debt to fuel slowing growth, followed by Europe which will struggle to keep the euro intact if a recession hits. But these problems are both remote. Here,…
The Friday File: Among the 10 songs with the most royalties, “The Christmas Song” (1944) at #10 with $19 million in royalties, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (1961) at #6 with $27 million and “White Christmas” (1940) at #2…
Average US Christmas spending in 2013 is expected to be $704 per person 18 years and older. More interesting is the wild variation in this number from year to year. After rising from a trough of $690 in 2003, spending…
In 2012, 24.5 million natural Christmas trees were purchased while 10.9 million manufactured trees were bought. The average price was $40.30 for a natural tree and $72.50 for plastic ones. Christmas tree sales hit a peak of 31.3 million natural…
While the Fed has pumped trillions into private banks via QE, banks have been loath to lend. While partly due to the rebuilding of bank capital and changing federal regulations, it’s also due to low rates. Making fixed rate loans…
The Friday File: While switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs saves households $150/year, three-tenths-of-one-percent of household income, that so few have switched suggests that households don’t like these bulbs or are ignorant of the savings. Rather than banning the sale…
The number of Americans receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), more commonly known as food stamps, fell from 47.665 million in August to 47.306 million in September, a decline of 0.75%, the biggest decline on record. In FY 2013, the…
By perfectly calibrating his message, this time, Bernanke was able to taper yet see equities climb by 1.75% and bond prices barely budge. Quite a difference from this past May. By combining tapering with a commitment to keep short-term rates…
While 43% of the population pay no federal income taxes, down from 47% in 2010, two-thirds of that 43% pay payroll taxes, leaving just 14.4% of the population that pay no federal income or payroll taxes. Of those, two-thirds are…