Posts Tagged ‘eisenberg and graphsandlaughs’
Laboring On
The Friday File: Looking at both federally-mandated paid vacation and holidays among rich nations, Austria ranks number one with 35 days/year, Germany and Spain tie for second with 34, followed by Italy and France at 31, Belgium and New Zealand with 30 and Ireland at 29. Canada is third from the bottom with 19, Japan…
Read MoreHazardous Headwinds
While the economy is improving, it’s now facing huge headwinds. They include the need for a Continuing Resolution, hitting the debt ceiling, Syria and its impact on oil prices, who will be the next Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the start date of tapering, fear about whether Abenomics will work in Japan, and concerns about…
Read MorePlunging Purchases
Purchases of new homes plunged 13.4% in July to only 394,000, the steepest drop in years underscoring the uneven pace of recovery. Worse, April, May and June new home sales were revised sharply lower and are officially in the books at just 446,000, 439,000 and 445,000 respectively. Moreover, the sales rate is only 6.8% higher…
Read MoreBogus Benevolence
The Friday File: Organizations often promise that 10%, 20%, or even all profits go to charity, while other firms promise that a percentage of revenues go to charity. Of course charitable giving is always good, but as a curmudgeonly economist, I much prefer the latter approach because it gives firms no incentive to boost salaries…
Read MoreHarmful Housing
Since housing is long-lived, when a city chronically loses population, the existing housing stock lowers house prices, preventing new construction and renovation activity, leading to deterioration in the housing stock. While cheap housing attracts the poor and slows population declines, it also makes it harder for the city (think Detroit) to turn its economic fortunes…
Read MoreFederal Reserve Flexibility
The just-released minutes of the Federal Reserve’s July meeting are a Rorschach test. For those reluctant to taper, there’s a nod to the still struggling labor market and the very low inflation rate. Conversely, others felt that the recent rise in interest rates would exert little restraint and that easier lending standards would help juice…
Read MoreFly Away
Despite allowing Delta to buy Northwest, United to buy Continental, and Southwest to buy AirTran, the Department of Justice has come down hard against the US Airways-American merger. Years ago the industry was hemorrhaging money and it was in everyone’s interest to have a stable and profitable airline industry. Now that it is, reduced competition…
Read MoreDeclining Deficit
As of 7/31/13, the FY2013 federal budget deficit was $607 billion, down from $973 billion on 7/31/12, and the full year FY13 deficit is projected to be $759 billion, down from $1.089 trillion last year. Revenues to date are up $278 billion, while outlays are down $88 billion. The deficit as a percent of GDP…
Read MoreBanking on Leverage
A proposal to increase capital ratios for the biggest financial firms to 6% for bank subsidiaries and 5% for bank holding companies while good, presents a huge loophole. A $150 billion bank would need $7.5 billion in capital. But if it puts $50 billion in a BHC, the subsidiary would have to hold $6 billion…
Read MoreBoys and Girls
The Friday File: In the US there are 105 boys born for every 100 girls. Older mothers give birth to more girls. By age 40, women give birth to 104 boys for every 100 girls and with each successive birth the probability of having a girl increases. By the seventh birth there are 103 boys…
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