Category Archives: Economy

Higher Retail Sales + Consumer Confidence = Growth

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly The consumer showed a lot of life in May, driving up retail sales 1.2 percent with gains sweeping nearly all components. A leading component in the month was motor vehicle sales which jumped 2.0 percent, excluding which … Continue reading →

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Friday’s Unemployment Report Was Gangbusters!

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly Why start with motor vehicle sales, I said yesterday? Because jobs are created these days only when consumers buy more, and they will only grow their purchases when incomes are rising. So the good news in Friday’s … Continue reading →

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Where’s the Outrage, Mr. President?

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs Where’s the outrage, Mr. President, when the New York Times just reported that at least 250 Disney World employees have been discharged, with many forced to train their own foreign replacements that have temporary H-IB work visas? Those … Continue reading →

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Big Surge In Vehicle Sales, Service Sector, ADP Employment

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly Why start with motor vehicle sales? “Consumers weren’t holding back in May when it came to buying cars and trucks which sold at a 17.8 million annual rate for a whopping 7.9 percent gain from April,” said … Continue reading →

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Higher Minimum Wage Strengthens Labor Unions

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly Unions may have been weakened by Republican efforts to abolish labor’s collective bargaining power, (in order to weaken their support of Democratic Party policies), but that may be changing as unions have found a new cause—working to … Continue reading →

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Housing Construction Surge—Sign of Better Times?

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner U.S. housing starts jumped to their highest level in nearly 7-1/2 years in April and permits soared, hopeful signs for an economy that is struggling to regain strong momentum after a dismal first quarter. And that is … Continue reading →

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Dr. Robert Shiller–Why the Weak Recovery?

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly Nobelist Robert Shiller, winner of the Nobel for his research in Behavioral Economics, or the psychology that drives economic behavior, has come up with the latest reason this economic recovery has been so weak to date. GDP … Continue reading →

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Fannie and Freddie Didn’t Do It!

Posted on May 19, 2015 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs As if further confirmation was needed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were not even a minor cause of the housing bubble and consequent bust, the latest judgment against Nomura Securities for selling fraudulent mortgages to Fannie and … Continue reading →

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2015 Housing Construction Will Surge

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner We believe housing construction is about to bloom this spring, due to growing employment. For starters, an additional 45,000 construction jobs were added to nonfarm payrolls in April. This is even though construction spending to date has … Continue reading →

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Repubs Anti-Science Agenda Endangers US

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs Last week, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, headed by Texas Republican Lamar Smith, approved a bill that would slash at least three hundred million dollars from NASA’s earth-science budget, says the New Yorker’s Elizabeth Colbert. “Earth … Continue reading →

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