Mohammed Bin Salman Of Saudi Arabia In Trouble? This is what Juan Cole reports today from several sources. Supposedly, as I reported here earlier, even though it was supposedly denied, the Saudi ARAMCO IPO deal is off. The new reports have it that the final decision on this came from King Salman of Saudi Arabia, […]
Marrying NAFTA and The TPP: The US-Mexico “Trade Agreement” I really am not sure where to begin with this latest farce, Trump’s announcement yesterday of a supposed US-Mexico Free Trade Agreement. Of course there was the farce of him trying to make the announcement with a live phone call between him and outgoing Mexican President […]
by New Deal democrat Even if the yield curve tightens no further, there will be consequences next year Both my posts from yesterday morning and today dealt with two aspects of the implications of the Fed raising rates. The unifying idea beneath both of them is that the Fed’s raising rates is already having […]
What the compressed yield curve means for employment Aside from the threat of a recession down the road, is there cause for concern by economic Progressives in the fact that the yield curve has tightened (i.e., the difference in interest rates between long and short term bonds has become very small)? In a word, Yes. […]
Are We Alone In The Galaxy (Or Maybe Even The Universe?) In 1938 Orson Welles put on a radio show in New York City that dramatized the famous novel by H.G. Wells, _The War of the Worlds_. This novel is about an invasion of Planet Earth by intelligent beings from Planet Mars, with this invasion […]
A new risk at the Fed: Donald Trump’s power to fire Fed Governors Calling it “breaking with decades of presidential convention,” the New York Times reported last week on Donald Trump’s open criticism of recent Federal Reserve rate hikes. quoting him as telling donors at a fund-raiser in the Hamptons: that he had expected Mr. Powell to […]
Conversable Economist Tim Taylor presents a chart representing spending over a life time on Education and Skills in America. “Figure 4 (depicted) is from a report by the White House Council of Economic Advisers, titled “Addressing America’s Reskilling Challenge” (July 2018). The blue area shows public education spending, which is high during K-12 years, but […]
by New Deal democrat New and existing home sales for July 2018: UPDATED with link Both new and existing home sales for July came in low. New home sales were at a 9 month low, and existing home sales at a 2 year low: That’s enough for both series to be scored as negatives, although […]
Is the rental vacancy rate a leading signal for the housing market? Here is something I noticed while putting together my piece yesterday on the housing market. Three of the series — new home sales, existing home sales, and single family starts — all peaked last November: That made me go back and think about […]
Pew Charitable Trust confirms the “rental (and ownership) affordability crisis” In case you thought I was talking through my hat about the general lack of affordability of all types of housing, including both owning and renting, the Pew Charitable Trust has also stepped up with a nearly identical analysis. Go read the whole thing, but here are […]