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The Friday File: This past Monday, Tom Petty passed away at just 66. During a career that began in earnest in 1975 with the formation Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, he won or shared three Grammy Awards, sold over 80…
After hitting an all-time high rate of $69 billion/year in 4/08, core capital goods (CCG) spending collapsed, bottoming at $46 billion/year in 4/09. It then quickly recovered, hitting a new high of $70 billion/year in 9/14, but oil prices then…
According to the American Hospital Association, from 1995 through 2014 inpatient admissions to hospitals rose by just 7.6%. By contrast, outpatient visits to free-standing emergency rooms, clinics, urgent care facilities and micro-hospitals rose 81%. Non-hospital operations generate lower revenues but…
Between 4/14 and 10/15, Flint, Michigan changed water suppliers, spawning a public-health crisis as the new water contained high lead levels. Research now shows that despite no reported decline in sexual activity, births declined by 12% and fetal deaths rose…
Compared to 188 other countries and taxing jurisdictions, the US has the third highest corporate tax rate. The highest rate belongs to the United Arab Emirates at 55%, followed by Puerto Rico (a US territory) at 39% and the USA…
The Friday File: After hitting a cyclical high of 122 in 2007, the number of half-million dollar and up yearling sales at Keeneland tumbled to a low of 28 in 2010 amid the panic of the Great Recession. Sales volume…
While labor productivity growth is very weak, we can improve it. Broadly speaking, government policies work best when they address needs that the private sector ignores. These include basic research, infrastructure, early childhood education, schooling, public health and so on.…
The standard deduction in 2017, if married is $12,700; $6,350 if single. Trump proposes doubling it. This will eliminate itemizing for married households with deductions between $12,701 and $25,400. Based on 2015 data, the average itemizing household with AGI of…
The average cost of an employer-offered family health insurance plan in 2017 was an eyewatering $18,764, up 3% from 2016. Employees paid an average of $5,714 or 31% of the premium. For an individual worker, coverage cost $6,690, a 4%…
Because single-family construction activity is rising much too slowly while multifamily activity shrinks, housing inventory has declined Y-o-Y for 27 straight months, prices keep rising faster than wages, and affordability is at its lowest level since early 2009. As a…