70 Words

THIN TIME

04/12/2024

The Friday file: The world’s thinnest watch is, for the 9th time, a Bulgari, this time the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra, at 1.7 millimeters (0.0669 inches). This breaks the previous 7/22 record of 1.75mm set by the RM UP-01 Ferrari,…

INFLATIONARY INCREASE

04/10/2024

March CPI rose 3.5% Y-o-Y. This is unfortunately the 10th month in a row that headline CPI has been trendless and rangebound between 3.1% and 3.7%. The lowest reading since the 2021 inflationary rise was 3.1% back in 6/23. Moreover,…

RECESSION RETURN

04/09/2024

In 1989, the Fed’s last rate hike was in 6/89 and 13 months later a recession began. In 2000, the lag between the Fed’s last hike and the recession was 10 months. In 2006, the lag was 18 months. And…

ROCKIN’ REPORT

04/08/2024

U.S. employers added a very strong 303,000 net jobs in March, the best level since 5/23, and there were upward revisions to January and February of 22,000. Better yet, the workweek rose, the labor force participation rate increased from 62.5%…

BEDAZZLING BASKETBALL

04/05/2024

The Friday File: To watch Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is to watch, by far, the greatest women’s college basketball player ever. She’s an inspiring and sublime generational talent whose scoring, passing, and rebounding ability defy words. In her most recent Elite…

ABODE APPRECIATION

04/04/2024

Compared to the 2006 Housing Boom peak, home prices are currently 71% higher. However, after accounting for inflation, home prices are just 10% higher. Thought of slightly differently, nominal home prices are exactly double what they were in 2004. That…

LOUSY LOTTERIES

04/03/2024

On 4/3/24, a drawing for a $1.09 billion Powerball jackpot will occur, the fifth largest. While the chances of winning are one in 292 million, Americans spent over $100 billion in 2022 buying lotto tickets and it’s mostly the poor.…

EXCEPTIONAL ECONOMY

04/02/2024

The economy continues to pleasantly surprise, to wit, 24Q1 GDP growth is being revised up, and thus rate cuts keep getting delayed. What’s going on? Several things. The rise in home prices and equities is slightly boosting consumer spending. Second,…

MACROECONOMIC MAGIC

04/01/2024

In a move hailed as genius, the Disney Corporation is beginning to plan and break ground for a new theme park called Econoworld. It aims to combine the magic of Disney with the unbridled excitement of macroeconomics and piggyback on…

POWERFUL POLITICIAN

03/29/2024

The Friday File: This past Wednesday, former senator Joseph Lieberman died; he was 82. His political career began in the Connecticut state house in 1970. In 1988, won election to the US Senate, becoming the first Orthodox Jew in the…

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