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We know 70% of households don’t itemize deductions, that there are 117 million households, and that 34% of all households (42 million) rent. Assuming all renters take the standard deduction, that means 40 million owner households take the standard deduction…

Last year 700 million passengers flew in the US and 40,600 were involuntarily bumped, meaning 0.0058% of all passengers were re-accommodated. That’s down from 0.0063% in 2015 when 43,700 passengers were involuntarily bumped out of 690 million. While it’s a…

While auto sales chipped 0.45 of a percent off 0.7% 17Q1 GDP growth, residential construction added 0.50 a percentage point. Personal spending was surprisingly weak and deserves watching, but should improve. Fortunately, corporate investment boosted GDP by 0.49 of a…

The Friday File: Total per capita gambling losses, defined as losses minus winnings, experienced by Americans are about $375/person, good enough for 5th highest in the world. In fourth place is Finland, where gambling losses are about $400/person. In third…

In 16Q3 and in 16Q4, the combined addition to real US GDP by all levels of government (federal, state and local) was 0.07 and 0.06 of a percentage point respectively. That was weak. Government spending should consistently contribute roughly 0.40…

President Trump has boldly proposed cutting the top corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%, lower than any Republican plan circulating on Capitol Hill. Assuming no offsetting tax increases, this will raise the debt by easily $2.2 trillion over a…

The British pound jumped 2.3% following the announcement of a snap June election. Presently, the Hard Brexiteers (HBs), those calling for a total break with the EU without any trade pact, have enough seats in Parliament to limit PM May’s…

Since capital punishment was reintroduced in the USA in 1977, about 1,400 people have been killed. The number of annual executions steadily rose through 2000, peaking at almost 100. Since then, the number of executions has declined annually except for…

The Friday File: In 2016, Americans, for the first time, consumed more bottled water than soda. Consumption of bottled water totaled 39.3 gallons/person, while soda consumption was 38.5 gallons/person. By revenue generated, soda is still tops at $39.5 billion compared…

While the VIX, the Wall Street fear index, is still very low at 16, it’s up from 10.96 on 3/3/17. While French elections, tensions with Russia and North Korea are all possible culprits, the driver is 4/28/17. Absent a budget…