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Between 1998 and 2002, before the housing market went haywire, total housing starts averaged 1.65 million units and the population of the US averaged 282 million persons. Over the next five years the US population will average about 320 million.…
The Friday File: Based on the idea that exchange rates and prices eventually adjust to make the same thing equally priced the world over, the Big Mac Index was created. In Norway, a Big Mac is $7.84, in Switzerland $7.12…
If Congress accepts President Obama’s proposal to expand preschool programs it would go against the vast majority of research that finds programs like Head Start deliver few if any lasting benefits. That said, if we do it, we must devote…
To prevent defaults by sugar processors that borrowed $862 million under a government price-support system, the USDA may purchase 400,000 tons of sugar to prop up prices. Sugar has fallen 18% to 21.03 cents/lb since the loans were made last…
The Cyprus fiasco shows us two things. First, countries that don’t issue their own currency simply cannot guarantee bank deposits as they have no control over their monetary policy. It also shows that monetary unions cannot survive bank runs. The…
Retail sales jumped a strong 0.4%, even after subtracting high gas prices, higher building material prices, and autos and groceries. Industrial production was up and is nearing its pre-recession peak and the four-week moving average of initial weekly unemployment claims…
The Friday File: On St. Patrick’s Day we drink 1% of all beer consumed in America, which equals 1.62 pints per/person, so drink up! 34.5 million Americans claim Irish ancestry which is seven times the population of Ireland. The total…
Our government runs the FDIC to protect us from bank failures, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation to protect our pensions, Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare to protect our health, FHA, Fannie and Freddie to guarantee our mortgages, Social Security to protect…
Youth unemployment in Spain is 56%, in Greece it is 58%, while in Germany it’s 8%. This should cause a mass influx of youth from these peripheral countries to Germany. Surprisingly, it’s not. Between 1/12 and 6/12 just 3,900 Spaniards…
The amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide emitted in 2011 rose by 3% (a billion tons) from 2010 to 38.2 billion tons. Of the planet’s top 10 polluters, only the USA and Germany reduced emissions. China emitted 10 billion tons, up…