Category: US Economy
The analysis published under this category are as follows.
Sunday, April 07, 2013
Stockman Takes Down Krugman / Politics / US Economy
By: William_Anderson
In 1981, David A. Stockman, a former Michigan congressman turned budget director for President Ronald Reagan, gave a series of interviews to socialist William Greider who subsequently published an article in Rolling Stone entitled, "The Education of David Stockman." The article portrayed someone who had come into the administration hopeful that the free-spending ways of the 1960s and 70s would be ended and that the U.S. Government would embrace fiscal sanity, but had become disillusioned by the whole process.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Relationship between Current U.S Deficits, Exchange Rates and Triffin Dilemma / Economics / US Economy
By: Sam_Chee_Kong
After the Great Depression in the 1930s the state of affair of the World economy can be at best described as turbulence. As a result of the Great Depression many countries experience a period of plummeting personal income, tax collection, exports and consumption. During that time most of the world’s economies have unstable exchange rates which also resulted in unstable world trade. Following this many countries engaged in competitive currency devaluation which resulted in the ‘beggar thy neighbour’ policies being adopted. Hence due to the intensified currency wars among nations ‘protectionist’ trade policies are also introduced.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Four Truths About the U.S. Economy All Investors Should Know / Economics / US Economy
By: Profit_Confidential
Truth #1: At the beginning of 2008, there were 28.22 million people in the U.S. economy on food stamps. Fast-forward to 2012, and the number has increased to 46.60 million—an increase of more than 65%. (Source: United States Department of Agriculture, March 8, 2013.) The number of Americans now on food stamps represents almost 15% of the entire population in the U.S. economy right now.
Tuesday, March 05, 2013
Why America Will Be the Next Japan / Economics / US Economy
By: InvestmentContrarian
George Leong writes: The media is harping on about how the U.S. is well on its way to recovery. Well, I don’t agree—the country’s economy is slowing. In the fourth quarter, gross domestic product (GDP) growth based on the second estimate expanded at 0.1%; this is above the -0.1% reading in the first estimate, but nonetheless, it’s below consensus, which estimated the economy would grow 0.5%. I’m not sure how the 0.5% growth was arrived at, but the concerns of the fiscal cliff in the fourth quarter clearly made consumers think twice about spending. Of course, the government also saw its spending curtailed due to the debt limit and pending sequester.
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Saturday, February 23, 2013
How Long Can U.S. Economy’s Sweet Spot Last This Time? / Economics / US Economy
By: Sy_Harding
Until recently, the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis and meltdown has been in stealth mode all the way, much of the country either unaware of the progress - or in denial that it was happening.That’s even been true of investors, whose success depends so much on being able to separate the facts and reality from the static and noise.
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Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Why America’s Economic Confidence Is Fragile / Economics / US Economy
By: InvestmentContrarian
George Leong writes: The recession is over, and the U.S. economy is showing some encouraging signs of economic renewal.
Shoppers are hitting the malls and stores, helping to drive up retail sales. I’d stick with the top department stores, like Macys, Inc. (NYSE/M), or discounters, such as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE/WMT), which will continue to rebound.
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Thursday, February 07, 2013
Euro-zone Prisoner of Bureaucracy, The Good, the Bad, and the Greek / Economics / US Economy
By: John_Mauldin
“The euro will not survive the first major European recession.” – Milton Friedman, 1999
“It seems to me that Europe, especially with the addition of more countries, is becoming ever-more susceptible to any asymmetric shock. Sooner or later, when the global economy hits a real bump, Europe’s internal contradictions will tear it apart.” – Milton Friedman, 1999
“… there will be asymmetric shocks hitting the different countries. That will mean that the only adjustment mechanism they have to meet that with is fiscal and unemployment: pressure on wages, pressure on prices.” – Milton Friedman, 1998
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Thursday, February 07, 2013
U.S. Econcomy ALL IS WELL! PhD in Stupidity / Economics / US Economy
By: James_Quinn
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” – Aldous Huxley
I woke up this past Saturday morning and opened my local paper to find out that all was well. An Associated Press article declared a healthy jobs market, fantastic auto sales, a surging housing market, and a stock market rocketing to new all-time highs. What’s not to love? If the mainstream media says the economy is as good as new, it must be so. Why should we let facts get in the way of a good storyline? The stock market has surged to 2007 highs, so the country’s employment situation must be strong.
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Wednesday, February 06, 2013
Hidden Good News Buried in Bad U.S. GDP Economic Data / Economics / US Economy
By: Money_Morning
Martin Hutchinson writes: The markets were hit with an unexpected twist last week. On Wednesday the Bureau of Economic Analysis shocked markets by announcing that U.S. Gross Domestic Product had declined by 0.1% in the fourth quarter.
That marked the first time economic output had fallen since the end of the Great Recession.
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Friday, February 01, 2013
Does The Stock Market Have It Right On The Economy Again? / Stock-Markets / US Economy
By: Sy_Harding
The stock market usually figures out what lies ahead for the economy well before economists and the Fed catch on.That can be seen in the way the market rolls over into a bear market when conditions are still looking great, when investor sentiment is at high levels of bullishness and optimism, when economists are projecting the positive trend to continue in a straight line into the future, and usually turns back up into the next bull market when sentiment is bearish and well before the economy shows signs of pulling out of a recession.
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Tuesday, January 22, 2013
United States on the Verge of an Explosion of Greatness! / Economics / US Economy
By: Bloomberg
David Tepper, founder of Appaloosa Management, told Bloomberg Television's Stephanie Ruhle on "Market Makers" today that he's "going to come out of the closet right now...we are bullish... This country is on the version of just an explosion of greatness. Do you like that? Explosion of greatness."
On how he founded Appaloosa, Tepper said, "after you work on Wall Street it's a choice, would you rather work at McDonald's or on the sell side? I would choose McDonald's. Over the sell side."
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Saturday, January 19, 2013
Corporate Hoarding Of Cash May Soon Become A Big Economic Positive! / Economics / US Economy
By: Sy_Harding
For a number of years politicians and analysts have bemoaned the fact that U.S. corporations were hoarding cash to an unprecedented degree, refusing to invest it for future growth that might have helped the economy recover from the back-to-back recessions of 2001 and 2008. Lagging business investment has continuously been tagged as one of the major factors stifling the economy.
Depending on whose numbers you believe, corporations are sitting on a record $2 trillion to $4 trillion in idle cash, earning only today’s minimal interest.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
US Economy - The Erosion of Growth, Tax Consequences From Gain to Drain / Economics / US Economy
By: John_Mauldin
In their fourth-quarter 2012 Quarterly Review and Outlook – today’s OTB – Lacy Hunt and Van Hoisington spell out the consequences of the so-called American Taxpayer Relief Act, as well as the even more egregiously named Affordable Care Act. They quickly conclude that the real effects of the tax increases on both individual taxpayers and the overall economy will be much greater than media reports have suggested.
One of the more interesting impacts is that many corporations, large and small, borrowed multiple billions of dollars to make early or special dividend payments, or paid 2012 bonuses before the year turned over. This, the authors write, “… will cause the fourth quarter national income and product figures to be dramatically overstated and will provide no guide to the prospects for 2013. However … income should show a sharp decline early in 2013.”
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Friday, January 11, 2013
Outlook for the US Economy in 2013 / Economics / US Economy
By: Brian_Bloom
POTUS may have made a serious tactical error, in "engineering" the House fiscal cliff vote. US Public Debt limit negotiations loom. The error can be retrieved if he backs down and shows humility in negotiations. If he continues with his arrogant approach, the economy (and the gold price) might head south.
The chart below - courtesy Stockcharts.com – shows very clearly that the gold price has arrived at yet another decision point.
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Sunday, January 06, 2013
US Jobs Report Points to an “Economy Mired in Crisis” / Economics / US Economy
By: Barry_Grey
The December employment report released Friday by the US Labor Department reflects an economy mired in crisis. It shows that five years after the official onset of recession and three and a half years after the recession’s official end, the US has failed to generate a recovery in jobs and incomes for the vast majority of the American people.
US non-farm payrolls saw a net increase of 155,000 jobs, somewhat lower than economists’ projections and barely sufficient to keep pace with the normal monthly growth of the working-age population. The official unemployment rate was set at 7.8 percent, the same as the rate for November, which was upwardly revised from 7.7 percent.
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Wednesday, January 02, 2013
Fiscal Cliff Deal and the U.S. Economy Swan Dive of 2013 / Politics / US Economy
By: BATR
Hold your breath, the race to the bottom is ready to escalate. The consequence of the corporate consumerism economy has reached the tipping point. The old rules that mainstream spending will dig the way back to prosperity are permanently dead. The one sure implication that is indisputable is that taxes are set to rise at unprecedented levels. With Obamacare revenue obligations coming into effect, the latest phase of centralized medical socialism spreads like a virus. Under such circumstances, how can the patient regain their health?
Monday, December 31, 2012
How Is America Really Doing? 75 Facts Revealed / Economics / US Economy
By: GoldSilverWorlds
An amazing list of real facts was published by The Economic Collapse Blog, entitled 75 Economic Numbers From 2012 That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe. An excellent article that presents 75 facts & figures, based on research or surveys, indicating the real state of the US. Reviewing those facts and comparing them with the messages in the mainstream media and the government, we see such a huge disconnect.
We selected what we consider “fundamental facts” based on the following themes:
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Thursday, December 27, 2012
Economic Transition And The Supercycle / Economics / US Economy
By: Andrew_McKillop
WHEN IS A CYCLE A SUPERCYCLE?
The very first modern stockmarket crash of 1719-1721, of the French bourse was entirely driven by the Apple and Facebook-of-the-day. These were shares in the Mississippi Company, a company modeled on England's South Sea Company which peaked and crashed in almost exactly the same timeframe. Mississippi Co.'s first share offering IPO was in January 1719 at a unit price of 500 livres (the French currency of the time). The shares "went viral" driving prices to 10 000 livres per share by December 1719, an 11-month gain of 1,900 percent. All kinds of people became "investors" and many became millionaires just from their holdings of Company shares. The French word “millionaire” was coined to describe speculators who got lucky and got wealthy as a result of the Mississippi Bubble.
Monday, December 24, 2012
Why Bernanke’s Terrified of 2013 / Economics / US Economy
By: Graham_Summers
On December 12, the US Federal Reserve surprised yet again by announcing QE 4: a program through which it would purchase $45 billion of US Treasuries every month.
Between this program and the Fed’s QE 3 Program announced in September, the Fed will be monetizing $85 billion worth of assets every month ($40 billion worth of Treasuries and $45 billion worth of Mortgage Backed Securities) ad infinitum.
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Sunday, December 23, 2012
U.S. Miles Driven Economic Indicator Hits Another Post-Crisis Low / Economics / US Economy
By: PhilStockWorld
Courtesy of Doug Short.The Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Commission has released the latest report on Traffic Volume Trends, data through October. Travel on all roads and streets changed by 0.3% (0.9 billion vehicle miles) for October 2012 as compared with October 2011. The 12-month moving average of miles driven increased only 0.51% from October a year ago (PDF report). And the civilian population-adjusted data (age 16-and-over) has set another post-financial crisis low.