Category Archives: Macro Economics

Republicans Don’t Pay Their Bills

Financial FAQs “The new law will reduce federal revenues by significant amounts, even after allowing for the impact on economic growth. It will make the distribution of after-tax income more unequal. If it is not financed with concurrent spending cuts … Continue reading

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Trump, the Lucky Loser

Answering Kennedy’s Call “Born to a rich father who made him the beneficiary of his own highly lucrative investments, Trump received the equivalent of more than $500 million today via means that required no business expertise whatsoever.” Random House In … Continue reading

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Bidenomics Works–Part II

Financial FAQs A large fraction of voters do suffer from economic illiteracy. Indeed, it is fair to say that an ample majority do not understand the basics of how markets work. They are especially confused about labor and international markets. … Continue reading

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Record Inequality = Record Debt

Answering Kennedy’s Call “Never spend money before you have earned it.” Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson may not be the best person to quote on the dangers of debt—His slaves weren’t freed upon his death because his estate owed too many … Continue reading

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Retail Sales Slowing

Financial FAQs Breaking News: The Federal Reserve just announced it’s first rate cut of 0.50%, which lowers its Fed Funds rate from 5.25% to 4.75%. Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for August 2024, adjusted for seasonal … Continue reading

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Fed’s Preferred Inflation Indicator Softens

Popular Economics Weekly The latest economic data show the US economy slowed in Q1 2024, but economic growth should increase in the second quarter because consumers will continue to spend. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), the best measure of overall consumer … Continue reading

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Retail Sales Decline Worrying

Financial FAQs The bad news might be good news, though it presages further grief for some consumers. Retail sales didn’t increase at all in April, and the Consumers Price Index showed lower inflation, with its annual rate dropping to 3.4 … Continue reading

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Why the Inflation Confusion?

Popular Economics Weekly Most pundits (and propagandists) don’t know who to blame for ‘sticky’ inflation, so they blame those who haven’t caused it—such as the current administration or the Federal Reserve. But the sudden rise in prices of the past … Continue reading

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Inflation Target Reached?

Financial FAQs Inflation is probably as close to the Federal Reserve’s inflation target of 2 percent as possible this year, according to its favorite inflation index, the Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index (PCE) that is the best overall measure of … Continue reading

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Consumers Confident No Recession

Financial FAQs There is a good reason why we have avoided a recession. Consumers don’t believe it will happen. And consumers drive some 70 percent of US economic activity. So their attitudes tend to make or break economic growth. When … Continue reading

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