Category: US Economy
The analysis published under this category are as follows.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Fiscal Cliff Threatens U.S. With Recession, Politicans Lack Ability to Find Solution / Politics / US Economy
By: Bloomberg
Bloomberg Television's Trish Regan sits down with four CEOs for a special edition of "Street Smart" focused on fixing the country's debt. Tune in to hear from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, NASDAQ CEO Bob Greifeld, UPS CEO Scott Davis and Honeywell CEO David Cote, who are all part of the Fix the Debt campaign.
The CEOs agree: It's Washington's fault we're not hiring and not spending. Honeywell's Cote says, "If we were playing with fire in the debt ceiling, we'll be playing with nitroglycerine now when it comes to the fiscal cliff."
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Saturday, October 13, 2012
When It Comes to Forecasting, Consumers are Smarter Than 'Conomists / Economics / US Economy
By: Lee_Adler
The Thompson Reuters University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index was released this morning, and like just about every other September release, it hugely beat economists consensus expectations. I had written several pieces in September alluding to the fact that withholding tax collections had surged early in the month and continued to do well thereafter, foreshadowing what would be stronger than expected economic releases for September.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
What do White-Winged Doves have to do with Economics? / Economics / US Economy
By: D_Sherman_Okst
Everything!
This short, nonfiction, tragicomedy personifies what is wrong with our country, our economy and our totally inept and very dysfunctional legal system that has become a leech to taxpayers and a threat to humanity.
The Great Depression of the 1930s was brought upon by lawlessness. Documented, historical proof that a functioning economy is dependent on a basic legal framework. One that we no longer have.
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Friday, October 12, 2012
Navigating the US's Politicized Economy / Politics / US Economy
By: Casey_Research
Terry Coxon, Casey Research : Absent the state's involvement in the workings of the marketplace, an investor's central task would be to evaluate companies for their ability to efficiently produce and market what customers want. Shrewdness at that one task would lead to the profits investors are looking for. And there would be other consequences.
The stocks of companies that succeeded in convincing investors that they had the right stuff (primarily through good performance) would be bid up. Stocks of companies that failed to make their case to investors would tend to drift down, and any company whose stock drifted low enough would become a takeover target. A takeover would replace underperforming management with a new team of officers and directors – individuals picked by the people who laid out their own money to buy enough shares to control the company.
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Monday, October 08, 2012
U.S. Economic Recovery? Sign's of What's Ahead / Economics / US Economy
By: EWI
Several signs suggest economic contraction instead of expansion.
The first was recent front-page news: 8.1% August jobless rate. The number would have been higher, but it excludes people who gave up the job search.
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Monday, September 17, 2012
The Economic Dreamtime Comes Of Age / Politics / US Economy
By: Andrew_McKillop
For at least 4 years, hundreds of commentators have analyzed and predicted "the slow train wreck" of the global economy. Advice they give ranges from buying gold to not spending extravagantly, avoiding the "home equity trap" of buying apartments or houses, avoiding the stock market and staying mobile. What we have instead of the train wreck is “anticipation management” by the markets and a predictable and constant, "reassuring" talk up of the general economy and its so-called resilience by mainstream financial media, from Bloomberg and the Economist, to the WSJ and FT. Their game is to tell us there is no end in sight for spinning out the party.
Friday, September 07, 2012
U.S. Economic Report Card / Economics / US Economy
By: Richard_Mills
Let's ask ourselves two simple questions;
- How do economists, and Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke is an economist, discern whether an economy is growing, is vibrant and healthy? Well, for most economists it's a simple number, they use a country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to measure the state of the economy.
- What's the most important thing for a politician? The answer is getting reelected.
Sunday, September 02, 2012
Middle Class Lost Decade, Who do You Blame? / Politics / US Economy
By: Mike_Shedlock
The Pew Research center ponders The Lost Decade of the Middle Class.
Read full article... Read full article...Since 2000, the middle class has shrunk in size, fallen backward in income and wealth, and shed some -- but by no means all -- of its characteristic faith in the future.
Sunday, September 02, 2012
The U.S. Consumer Has In Fact Changed / Economics / US Economy
By: Tony_Pallotta
The consumer represents 70% of total economic output. So as the bond market is to the capital market, so is the consumer to the economy. When the consumer sneezes, the economy catches more than just a cold.
Since the "end" of the 2008 recession something very interesting has happened to the US economy. The US consumer has actually changed their spending habits. They have actually started to live more within their means. And that is a very positive sign for a number of reasons both financially and socially.
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Friday, August 31, 2012
U.S. Economies Financial Tectonic Plates Are Shifting Once Again / Economics / US Economy
By: EWI
History books call the period after the War of 1812 "The Era of Good Feelings."
America was a young nation that had a sense of purpose. National political strife was at a minimum; optimism was in the air.
Major advances in technology and engineering brought the country turnpikes for easier travel and "The Canal Craze" for more efficient commerce.
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Thursday, August 30, 2012
U.S. 2012:Q2 GDP Growth Upward Revision Reflects Stronger Final Sales / Economics / US Economy
By: Asha_Bangalore
The real gross domestic product of the US economy grew at annual rate of 1.7% in the second quarter, slightly higher than the original estimate of a 1.5% increase. Stronger growth in consumer spending, a smaller trade gap, and an upward revision of government outlays more than offset reductions in business investment outlays and residential investment expenditures to result in a higher estimate of GDP for the second quarter. As a result of the revisions, final sales increased at an annual rate of 2.0% in the second quarter, previously reported as a 1.2% gain. (Details of GDP data are available here).
Thursday, August 30, 2012
BEA Revises Estimate of Annualized U.S. GDP Economic Growth to 1.73% / Economics / US Economy
By: CMI
In their first revision to their estimate of the second quarter 2012 GDP, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) found that the annualized rate of U.S. domestic economic growth was 1.73%, up 0.19% from their initial estimate -- but still down about a quarter of a percent from the 1.97% reported for the prior quarter and down over two and a quarter percent from the 4.10% growth rate for the 4th quarter of 2011. The changes in the GDP growth shown in this report do not represent actual month-to-month changes in the economy, but merely a refined understanding of the previously reported data for the second quarter.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Bernanke's Dual Mandate Trap / Interest-Rates / US Economy
By: EconMatters
After reporting an uptick of national unemployment rate of 8.3%, it is of little surprise that the Labor Dept. said on Friday that jobless rates rose in 44 U.S. states in July, with many states showing a monthly increase in more than three years.
Monday, August 13, 2012
U.S. Economic Facts and Consequences of Growth in Government Jobs vs. Private Jobs vs. Population Growth / Economics / US Economy
By: Mike_Shedlock
Keynesian clowns are concerned about the decline in government jobs in the past few years. They want the government to step up spending and hire more workers to make up for the loss of jobs in the private sector.
Here is a chart from reader Tim Wallace that will help put the recent loss of government jobs in a better perspective.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
U.S. Economy Huge Reality Check Ahead? / Economics / US Economy
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes:
Let's try and be insightful today, shall we?
Equities have been rallying; we'll call it the summer rally.
Major benchmarks are only a few percentage points off their highs. It's all good, right?
Thursday, August 09, 2012
Why U.S. Econcomy the Bears Are Wrong…Again / Economics / US Economy
By: Yiannis_G_Mostrous
Since the beginning of the year, being bearish and trashing the global economy has been the favorite pastime for the majority of market observers. Recurring negative themes have been the sluggish US economy, the supposedly imminent demise of the euro and the slowdown in growth of China’s gross domestic product (GDP).
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Tuesday, August 07, 2012
U.S. Economic Recovery Orders and Production: No Time for Complacency / Economics / US Economy
By: John_Mauldin
We have been assaulted with economic news of all sorts, from every corner of the globe, while trying to watch the Olympics and while we would rather be enjoying summer and decompressing (at least in the Northern hemisphere).
But the data keeps coming. My friend John Silvia, the Chief Economist of Wells Fargo, has been with me in Maine this past weekend. And as we caught fish and shared our thoughts, we also both managed to get out our respective writing done. His note this morning is a particularly interesting analysis of US data, which has him wondering about his call for tepid growth but no recession
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Friday, August 03, 2012
Mr. Bernanke's Postponement Strategy? / Economics / US Economy
By: Ian_R_Campbell
On Wednesday, August 1 Chairman Bernanke provided an update on the Federal Reserve's position on the U.S. economy. He commented briefly in a negative tone on U.S. GDP growth, unemployment, consumer spending and the housing sector. He said the Fed's U.S. inflation expectations remained stable. He reconfirmed the Fed's policy of reinvesting in U.S. treasuries until December 2012.
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Wednesday, August 01, 2012
U.S. Economy on Soft Trajectory as Consumer Spending Falls / Economics / US Economy
By: Asha_Bangalore
Real consumer spending declined 0.1% in June, after posting gains of 0.2% and 0.1% in April and May, respectively. Outlays of durable goods and services held steady in June, but that of non-durables fell 0.4%. We can discern the causes for a drop in consumer non-durables when the Commerce Department publishes complete details of consumer expenditures on Friday, August 3. More importantly, the level of real consumer spending in June ($9576 billion) is lower than the second quarter average ($9582 billion), which sets up the case of strong monthly gains in consumer spending in the third quarter if consumer spending has to make a noticeable contribution to real GDP. There are doubts about a strong trajectory of consumer spending in the second-half of the year, given the current worrisome labor market situation.
Monday, July 30, 2012
The Multi-Trillion Dollar Black Hole That Could Undermine the U.S. Economy / Economics / US Economy
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes:
The difficulties facing retirees aren't just their problems. Underfunded pensions weigh down everyone's retirement expectations and America's future growth prospects.
Kicking the can down the road on this one has involved everything from outright lying to misrepresentation, bordering on fraud in the way pension plans calculate their liabilities.
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