Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Revised real GDP growth

Along with the second quarter GDP report the BEA also published the results of its regular revision of the last five years of data.  The most significant revision was to the measure of price changes in the high tech arena. This showed that business investment had been somewhat stronger than previously reported, but it only […]

Another look at GDP

(Dan here….Lifted from comments here) Spencer says: You can download the most recent GDP in excell form directly from the BEA. In the 2nd quarter exports accounted for 1.12 percentage points of the 4.1% surge in real GDP. That is almost 30% of growth. Apparently the big jump in exports was due to large purchases […]

Has Trump Won This Easy Trade War With Our Greatest Foe, The European Union?

Has Trump Won This Easy Trade War With Our Greatest Foe, The European Union? So Sean Hannity would have us believe this evening after the press conference earlier today by Trump and EU Commissioner Jean-Claude Juncker.  According to Hannity they have signed a “deal” that will help US businesses, workers, and farmers. Yowzah! As it […]

Meanwhile, Saudis Stuck On Oil Thanks To MbS Crackdown

Meanwhile, Saudis Stuck On Oil Thanks To MbS Crackdown Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) has a plan to get Saudi Arabia off oil, with an immediate push to create 1.2 million private sector jobs by 2020.  However, as Juan Cole reports, his political crackdown last year in which over 300 people were tossed in […]

Accidentally Booked on Fox News

.@teambarbara's website says Congress should "abolish ICE and start fresh, building a new immigration enforcement system that is fair, just, compassionate and reflects the values of a nation of immigrants." She was accidentally booked for a Fox News interview this morning: pic.twitter.com/WFT0JDu88b — Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) July 23, 2018 Accidentally booked on Fox News as […]

Tariffs

Remember, a tariff  is a tax. So we have a republican president trying to solve problems by raising taxes. Has anyone told Grover Norquist ?