Tag Archives: consumer spending

The Too Dumb to Fail Party

Popular Economics Weekly “In November 2021, (President Biden) signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill. Then, in August 2022, he signed the CHIPS bill, which invests $280 billion in semiconductor manufacturing. Days later, he signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which invests … Continue reading

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Retail Sales Continue Decline

Financial FAQs “Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for August 2025, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $732.0 billion, up 0.6 percent (±0.4 percent) from the previous month, … Continue reading

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Are We in a Recession?

Financial FAQs “The preliminary estimate of the Current Employment Statistics (CES) national benchmark revision to total nonfarm employment for March 2025 is -911,000 (-0.6 percent), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. BLS.gov FREDunemployment There was a lot of … Continue reading

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Another Civil War?

Popular Economics Weekly “The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal. Donald Trump isn’t a strongman, he’s a scared man. Illinois won’t be … Continue reading

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The Job Losses Begin

Popular Economics Weekly “Trump’s arbitrary, capricious, and mercurial decisions about tariffs and everything else that affects the economy have made it impossible for employers to make even modest predictions about the future. So they won’t hire.” Robert Reich, Former U.S. … Continue reading

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This Inflation Isn’t Temporary–Part II

Popular Economics Weekly From the same month one year ago, the PCE price index for July increased 2.6 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 2.9 percent from one year ago. BLS.gov BLS.gov The PCE price index is one … Continue reading

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It’s Taxation Without Representation

Financial FAQs “Oh, and as for all these tariffs: Whatever you think of them (and I am not a blanket opponent), they are taxes. They are sales taxes. Where in my copy of the United States Constitution does it say … Continue reading

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This Inflation isn’t Temporary

Popular Economics Weekly The Producer Price Index for final demand rose 0.9 percent in July, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Final demand prices were unchanged in June and moved up 0.4 percent in May. BLS.gov … Continue reading

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Who Benefits From America’s IOUs?

Financial FAQs WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government’s gross national debt has surpassed $37 trillion, a record number that highlights the accelerating debt on America’s balance sheet and increased cost pressures on taxpayers. AP FREDdebtGDP Trump and his Republicans’ trade war and … Continue reading

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Trade Wars = Stagflation

Popular Economics Weekly  “The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in July, after rising 0.3 percent in June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 … Continue reading

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