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


Trade Deficit Dynamics

04/26/2011

The March trade deficit fell by 2.6% but, hold the applause. Imports fell 1.7% due to a fall in demand for crude oil. Exports fell 1.4% as US auto, industrial machinery & food products fell. As if the decline in…

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Countercyclical Measures

04/25/2011

Including the stimulus, tax cuts, bailouts, home and car subsidies and automatic stabilizers (i.e. unemployment insurance and food stamps) the Great Recession will add about $4.2 trillion to the federal debt by the time it ends. The largest contributor; automatic…

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Home Builders Hurt Hard

04/22/2011

NVR, Inc., a large home builder reported lower than expected earnings as sales dropped and margins narrowed. Looking through their financials there is not much to be happy about. If, arguably, the strongest public builder in the strongest markets (DC…

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Good Vs. Bad Inflation

04/21/2011

The Fed via QE2 tried to generate inflation but got the wrong kind. Instead of wage inflation or real estate inflation (including house price increases) which causes people to ratchet up their spending because they feel richer, what we have…

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Courting Debt Ceiling Disaster

04/20/2011

During the housing bust banks held mortgage debt they thought was safe. It wasn’t. In the crunch, they got scared and froze; so did the economy. If Cong fails to lift the debt ceiling the chain of events will be…

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Minorities Growing Fast

04/19/2011

Demographics 101: Over the past decade the US population has grown by 9.7% to 309m. Minorities accounted for 92% of that growth. The ranks of Hispanics swelled by 43% to 51m. The Asian population grew at the same rate to…

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Student Loans Growing

04/18/2011

There has been an incentive burst of auto buying recently but in reality the majority of credit growth can be found in student loans! It is worth noting that student loans are probably the only type of loan you can…

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No Inflation

04/15/2011

Bernanke and a majority of Fed officials predict that the surge in oil prices will lead only to a modest and short-lived increase in consumer prices as firms will have a very tough time passing cost increases on to consumers…

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Beauty Beats Bucks

04/14/2011

While money may not buy happiness beauty buys both money and happiness. Economic research shows that the beautiful are happier than the plain. Moreover, the majority of beauty’s effect on happiness works through its impact on economic outcomes! For example,…

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Budget Brawl Begins

04/13/2011

The budget battle over FY ’12 is here! The R plan makes big cuts to Medicare & Medicaid, ignores Social Security (SS) and keeps the Bush tax cuts. The D plan, will also ignore SS (2 risky) and will propose;…

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