The latest economic treat, the budget deficit fell to just 4.1% of GDP in 2013, the lowest level since 2008. Revenues were 16.7% of GDP, while expenditures were 20.8%. Rising revenues accounted for 79% of the deficit decline in 2013.…
In addition to nominating Janet Yellen to be Chairwoman of the Fed, President Obama will soon nominate three, and possibly four, new people to soon-to-be vacant slots on the seven-member Federal Reserve Board of Governors, all of whom vote on…
QE is not “printing money” as it does not increase the amount of money in circulation. Handing out $100 bills would be printing money. By purchasing Treasuries and MBS, the Fed raises the price of those securities and thus lowers…
In recessions between 1950 and 1982, GDP always fell by more than employment, and as a result productivity per worker declined. Starting with the 1990-91 recession, things reversed. In that recession, GDP declined 1.2% yet employment fell by 1.7%. In…
The Friday File: The highest-priced stallion syndication was for Fusaichi Pegasus at a reported $60 million in 2000, while the record stud fee remains $500,000 for Northern Dancer in the mid-1980’s. The most paid for a thoroughbred at auction was…
The US trade deficit was $38.8 billion in August, virtually unchanged from July and has been hovering around $40 billion/month since early 2010. Before the Great Recession, it was about $60 billion/month. The difference, oil imports are down about $20…
The 148,000 new jobs reported in the delayed September employment report are profoundly disappointing. New jobs have now averaged 143,000 this past quarter, 182,000 in Q2 and 207,000 in Q1. At the current rate, it will take until September 2014,…
The velocity of money is the number of times a unit of currency is used to buy domestically produced goods and services during a fixed period of time. The velocity of M1 (cash and checking accounts) has fallen by 38%…
The CPI is based on 83,300 price quotes/month, but because the government was closed for 11 working days in October, the sample will be based on 40,000 price quotes. Because price quotes for some items are collected bi-annually, it will…
The Friday file: Legislators in CA are paid best at $90,000/year, with PA second at about $83,000/year. NY is third at $79,000, followed by MI and IL at about $70,000/year. By contrast, NM pays legislators nothing, NH pays them $100/year,…