70 Words

The Friday File: In 2019, 3.46 million persons in the US played pickleball. In 2020, that number increased to 4.2 million and in 2021, 4.8 million, a staggering average annual growth rate of 17.8%, or 38.7% over two years, making…

In 1965, 1984, and 1994, the Fed raised rates to cool an overheating economy and a recession didn’t ensue. Unfortunately, now consumer confidence is crumbling but more importantly, the yield curve is almost flat, inflation is high and rising, unemployment…

At its peak in 2013, 13.5 million marriages occurred in China. The number has since steadily fallen and in 2021 7.6 million weddings occurred. Since 2002 the number of persons 22-31 has fallen from 223 million to 163 million. Moreover,…

For the 14 years ending 2021, only once did a majority of large-cap stock-picking (LCSP) mutual funds outperform the S&P 500, and that was in 2009, and only 53% outperformed the S&P 500. Last year was a particularly bad year,…

The current Covid-19 surge in Hong Kong and in China is a potential supply-chain disaster. China’s vaccines offer very limited protection against Omicron, few persons have natural immunity due to China’s increasingly outdated zero-tolerance policy, and China has few hospital…

The Friday File: For the week ending 2/23/22, the most popular game was Candy Crush Saga with 40% of persons having played it, including 48% of women and 33% of men. Angry Birds follows at 33%, with 35% of men…

54% of Americans will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day today and will in the process spend $5.87 billion. 80% of celebrants will wear green, 34% will make a special dinner, and 26% will decorate their home or office. While St. Patrick’s…

War has traditionally worsened inflation as military demands are added to domestic ones, sanctions, embargoes, and bombs worsen supply chains, and as conflicts are often financed by printing money. While some of these effects are all but guaranteed, to date…

GDP growth is the result of increases in the labor force and improvements in labor productivity. Regrettably, the pool of new job entrants has been declining dramatically of late. The average annualized growth in the working age population went from…

The number of job openings fell to 11.3 million in January from 11.4 million in December, the December number was an all-time high. Pre-Covid-19, the number was just 7 million. Relatedly, the quit rate is now 2.8%/month, down slightly from…