December housing permits and starts mixed, support slowdown scenario This morning we finally got December housing permits and starts. Remember that starts are more volatile than permits, and single family permits are the least volatile of all. Here’s what the overall data looks like: While starts and completions laid an egg, permits actually went up […]
The Trump Tax Cut and Big Pharma CEOs of 7 pharmaceutical multinationals addressed the Senate Finance Committee: Pharma execs offer Senate ideas to lower drug costs – except actually cutting prices. Executives from seven pharmaceutical companies — AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Pfizer and Sanofi — are testifying before the Senate Finance Committee. […]
Iran’s Foreign Minister Is Out This looks like bad news. Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif, hass resigned. Apparently he has previously tried to resign several times, but President Rouhani refused to accept it. This time Zarif did it very publicly on Instagram, ah, the uses of social media. Anyway, apparently there is a chance he […]
by Joseph Joyce Mars Descending? U.S. Security Alliances and the International Status of the Dollar A decade after the global financial crisis, the dollar continues to maintain its status as the chief international currency. Possible alternatives such as the euro or renminbi lack the broad financial markets that the U.S. possesses, and in the case […]
The Tsunami of Tstupidity An edited video of an encounter between Senator Diane Feinstein of California and a group of young campaigners for the Green New Deal is eliciting much outrage and indignation on Twitter. Senator Feinstein’s unpardonable offense is that she became impatient with being repeatedly interrupted and made a few sarcastic remarks having […]
by Steve Roth The Eighth Way to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist Asymptosis February 22nd, 2019 The teams at Rethinking Economics and Doughnut Economics have launched a contest for entries, asking “What’s the 8th Way to Think Like a 21st Century Economist?” It builds on Kate Raworth’s seven ways, here. Here’s my entry: 8. Widespread prosperity both […]
by New Deal democrat Weekly Indicators for February 18 – 22 at Seeking Alpha My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. The short leading indicators have sunk to a level that is consistent with an oncoming recession in the next 3 – 8 months. But the recent government shutdown may still be skewing some […]
Neoliberalism as Structure and Ideology in Higher Education A few weeks ago I speculated on the structural aspect of neoliberalism at an economy-wide level, the way its characteristic framing of economic decision-making may have emerged from changes in the role of finance in business and the composition of high-end portfolios. My purpose was to push back against […]
by New Deal democrat Housing may bottom this spring Despite yesterday’s poor existing home sales report, which was the worst in over three years, the bottom in housing may be near. This post is up at Seeking Alpha. As always, reading the post should be helpful to you, and renumerates me just a bit for my […]