Yesterday, the release of key economic indicators in China produced headlines like this: China Targets Inflation as Economy Runs Hot. The table below lists the full release, including the consensus expectations (Bloomberg’s survey) for each statistic. (Here is the link for the actual data release.) As you can see, the survey undershot the actual results […]

by Bruce Webb(Update-something in this doesn’t look quite right. The over all argument is right but something is amiss down in the post. Bonus points if you find it before I do.)(Update 2-found it. I think, see strike out and addition below. But there are a lot of numbers in play here.) Blogger/Reader BK: I […]

by Tom aka Rusty The Trouble with Cost Containment Long-term care facilities face multiple pressures thwarting cost containment attempts. The nursing homes have three types of patients: rehab: typically younger post orthopedic surgery or cardiac care, short stayjoint hospice patients: who are to be provided comfort care while dyingtrue long-term care residents: typically an 84 […]

by Rebecca Wilder The term of Brazil’s President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, concludes this year. During President Lula’s tenure, Brazil enjoyed stable monetary policy and strong economic growth. However, President Lula is likewise known for growing the size of Brazil’s government, for example, by adding over 300k government jobs. This translates into a 4.8% […]

by Divorced one like Bush If you haven’t heard, the SCOTUS just ruled 5/4 that corporations are now your brother and sister under the constitution.  Hey brother, can you spare a dime? To bad corporations didn’t have to fight in the Revolution and actually bleed to get such rights. More seriously, the court ruled that […]

(h/t Mudflats) Humor: This little video resonated with some of my thoughts on the MA Senate election and responses in the media. The little guy/gal is MA. Where the startle goes remains to be seen… Today is Bank Regulation day with Paul Volcker and the White House. And Health Insurance reform day is coming soon. […]

by Linda Beale Two “R”s in the news: Rachel Alexandra and Rudolf Elmer–Swiss banks, hedge funds? assist with tax evasionMaybe the world is looking up. A filly has won the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year, by a whopping 130 votes to second runner Zenyatta’s 90 votes. I’ve always had a soft spot in […]

by Rebecca Wilder How are the data presented? At an annual, quarterly, monthly, or weekly frequency? At the onset of the New Year, you will undoubtedly see many charts illustrating records broken in 2009 using annual measures. This is always fun (from a data junkie’s point of view), but it only tells the reader where […]