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177.4 million Americans have been fully vaccinated, 53.4% of the population. 40 million cases of Covid-19 have been reported. Assuming no one gets Covid-19 twice, that 53.4% of those testing positive for Covid-19 are vaccinated, and that reported cases are…

The US Treasury will, unless the debt ceiling is raised, start running out of money around Halloween. The term of Fed Chairman Powell ends on 1/31/22. President Biden must realistically announce his decision before Thanksgiving. Lastly, Congress must pass a…

The US Economy added 235,000 jobs in August, well below the 700,000 expected, but decent. Blame it on the Delta variant and labor shortages. The leisure and hospitality sector, which has averaged 350,000 new jobs/month through July, added none in…

The Friday File: Labor Day became an official national holiday on 6/28/1894 when President Cleveland signed a bill into law during the infamous and deadly Pullman strike. Back then, the work week was from Monday to Saturday and was 60-65…

Financial markets are jittery about the Fed’s plans to taper its monthly purchases of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities, not so much because tapering itself is likely to raise rates, because it won’t. Rather, markets fear that the end of tapering…

The latest projections for Social Security and Medicare find, somewhat counterintuitively, that the combined funds will run out of money in 2034, a year earlier than previously expected, due in no small part to Covid-19. While the pandemic-caused spike in…

Inflation is not all the same. Commodities like soybeans, lumber, oil, and even used cars and silicon chips can fluctuate sharply but have little, if any, momentum. Conversely, wages and movie tickets tend to rise slowly, but importantly, can create…

Congress increased the size and duration of unemployment benefits and the universe of unemployment insurance recipients. In June and July, 26 states ended some or all those benefits prematurely to encourage the unemployed to return to work. This patchwork allows…

The Friday File: By square miles (mi2) Vatican City is the smallest country on Earth at 0.19 mi2. Coming in a distant second at roughly four times the size is Monaco at 0.78 mi2. Next comes the southwestern Pacific Ocean…

Since 1/1/2021, the Conference Board’s monthly survey of consumer confidence has been steadily rising, while the University of Michigan’s monthly survey of consumer sentiment has been softening. The Conference Board essentially looks at labor market conditions and they’ve been improving.…