by New Deal democrat August producer data goes in the opposite direction from the consumer I have a new post, “Producers are Hot*, but Consumers Maybe Not,” up at Seeking Alpha. in which I contrast the white hot ISM manufacturing report with the lackluster motor vehicle sales and residential construction — the two biggest durable consumer […]
August jobs report: overall progress, with some new highs and some givebacks – by New Deal democrat HEADLINES: +201,000 jobs added U3 unemployment rate unchanged at 3.9% U6 underemployment rate declined -0.1% from 7.5% to 7.4% (NEW EXPANSION LOW) Here are the headlines on wages and the broader measures of underemployment: Wages and participation rates Not […]
by Joseph Joyce The Euro At Twenty: Mody’s EuroTragedy The euro will mark its twentieth anniversary in 2019. Is this a cause of celebration and congratulations? Or a case of a well-intentioned policy gone awry? Ashoka Mody in his new book , EuroTragedy: A Drama in Nine Acts, offers an account that shows that the joint currency […]
The July-August issue of New Left Review published an essay by Robert Pollin titled “De-growth vs. Green New Deal” in which he outlines his objections to what Peter Dorman affectionately refers to as “a suicide cult masquerading as a political position.” I have written a response to Pollin’s article, that I have submitted to NLR, […]
China Starts Yuan/RMB Futures Market Juan Cole reports that Reuters reports that China is establishing a commodities futures market in Shanghai that will operate in yuan/rmb. According to the report the commodity that is most expected to be traded is crude petroleum. This will put this exchange in competition with the West Texas intermediate crude […]
Brad DeLong hops aboard the “Employers have a Taboo against raising Wages” bandwagon For Labor Day Prof. Brad DeLong posted a talk on the implications (or not) of the US being near “full employment.” The arguments on a few of the pages will be familiar to readers of this blog:
Trump Shafts Abe On Trade And North Korea The Washington Post (on Monday on p. A11) has a revealing story about how President Trump has essentially shafted an important world leader who may have tried harder than any other to please and appease Trump from the moment he became president, with the story ironically reporting […]
(Dan here…better late than not) by New Deal democrat A thought for Labor Day, 2018 US voters will continue to vote for alternating partisan “waves” in Congress, and for “outsiders” however chancey for President, until the problem depicted in the below graph is solved:
Has Trump Gone Over The Edge On Negotiating With Canada? He may well have. Facing the deadline for submitting his deal with Mexico to Congress on Friday, he did so. However, he did so without Canada signed on, the apparently intense negotiations in Washington between Canadian Foreign Minister, Chrystia Freeland and US Trade Representative, Robert […]
Comments on personal consumption expenditures: the September anomaly and the Fed’s 2% inflation ceiliing Let me make a few comments on yesterday’s (Aug. 30) report on personal income and spending. Well, actually, just the spending part for now. First, there is a long-time relationship going back 60 years in the data whereby the YoY% growth […]