Tag Archives: tariffs

What Happened to Consumers’ Confidence?

Financial FAQs http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/ Consumer sentiment declined in early January to its lowest level since Trump was elected, reported the December U. of Michigan sentiment survey. It’s down for a number of reasons—too many reasons, and economists are consequently beginning to … Continue reading

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A Week of Conflicting Growth Signals

Popular Economics Weekly Econoday How do we reconcile the fact that industrial production in 2018 was very good, probably due to producers stocking up before more new tariffs are announced, and consumer sentiment has plunged to a 2-year low because … Continue reading

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Is There Too Little Inflation?

Financial FAQs The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) declined 0.1 percent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis after being unchanged in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Over the last 12 months, the … Continue reading

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Weaker Employment Report Due to Trade Wars?

Financial FAQs MarketWatch.com Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 155,000 in November, and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in health care, in manufacturing, and in transportation … Continue reading

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Trade Wars Hurt U.S. the Most!

Popular Economics Weekly Econoday.com Is the trade war hurting U.S. jobs? Yes, says Mauldin Economics’ Patrick Watson, among others. Watson uses US automakers as an example. Ford and GM estimate that the 25 percent steel and 10 percent aluminum tariffs … Continue reading

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What Really Is Fair Trade?

Popular Economics Weekly China is our trading partner with the largest deficit; $506 billion in exports to the US vs. $130 billion in imports from US for a -$376 billion trade deficit in 2017. Canada is the 2nd largest partner … Continue reading

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What Really Is Fair Trade?

Popular Economics Weekly China is our trading partner with the largest deficit; $506 billion in exports to the US vs. $130 billion in imports from US for a -$376 billion trade deficit in 2017. Canada is the 2nd largest partner … Continue reading

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Labor Productivity is the Golden Fleece

Financial FAQs Graph: Econoday Rising labor productivity is the golden fleece of economic growth, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, because major economists maintain it is really the only way workers can raise their standard of … Continue reading

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Where Goes the Housing Market?

The Mortgage Corner Graph: Econoday We definitely have a housing shortage. Housing construction is unable to keep up with the demand for single-family homes, in particular. Year-on-year, starts are down 1.4 percent with completions, at a 1.188 million rate, down … Continue reading

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