Was the GDP report good or bad? Six percent sure sounds terrific, given it wasn’t all that long ago two and a half or three was perceived a home run. As with any of these things, the ultimate judgement depends on more than single numbers because everything is relative. The fact is the BEA calculated a headline quarterly change which [...]
These are not the numbers to put anyone’s (rational) mind at ease. China’s data dump wasn’t terrible, but it didn’t need to be in order to amplify concerns about the state of the global economy. What the inflationary case required of the Chinese government instead was unambiguous, inarguable acceleration more consistent with the idea its economy is somehow performing up [...]
One idea for why the labor market hasn’t come back in nearly the same way as the goods economy or “aggregate demand” has, each spurred on by Uncle Sam’s repeated use of his TGA-fueled helicopter, is that yet another of the federal government’s rescue efforts has hindered the employment rebound – from the worker side. Businesses, many say, really, desperately [...]
Last week I was contacted by two clients seeking information about cryptocurrencies. One was my godson, 12 years old and just getting started in investing. So far, he's bought Nintendo and Roblox (the latter against my recommendation but what do I know about video games?). But last week he said he wants to buy a cryptocurrency. He first mentioned Dogecoin [...]
Disappointing some, US real GDP managed to come in 6.2% higher in Q1 2021 when compared to Q4 2020. This was slightly less than the “consensus” which had figured around 6.6% growth and then the more optimistic calculations including the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow tool that had only yesterday pointed to 8% (with some outlier whispers dialing up double-digit gains). Even [...]
Given the historic data for US retail sales, “somehow” the bond market ignored them yesterday (and today). Yields globally fell for the most part, with real yields (TIPS) really discounting the significance of consumers in March. Bonds aren’t buying that this is anything other than temporary.Not surprisingly, the mainstream media refuses not to buy what bonds aren’t. I mean, for [...]
I keep saying to take them at their word. For years now, China’s top Communists have been upfront and honest in a way that compared to what goes on in Western nominally-free democracies would be refreshing. Don’t get me wrong; this is no way implies, nor do I claim, that authoritarian thuggishness can be superior. Rather, this is the small(ish) [...]
The idea behind post-Georgia reflation is that globally fiscal-led “stimulus” will be enough to fix what’s still wrong. The economy broke down, by choice, last year but with sufficient zeroes behind governments spending around the world, from DC to Brussels and a bunch in between, whatever costs and consequences remaining due from 2020 aren’t going to be unmanageable for 2021. [...]
Mario Draghi is back to save Italy by now running it. Like Janet Yellen resurfacing at the US Treasury, these people are thought of in the most positive terms simply because the public remains blissfully unaware of basic data. Not without good reason; the public had for decades come to count on central bankers (for all anyone knew) to keep [...]
If you remember 2018’s economic “boom”, you’ll likely recall that year’s second quarter. Set up by December 2017’s Tax Cut and Jobs Act, when the BEA published GDP estimates for those three months that July, the unusual 4% growth rate seemed to have confirmed the positive effects of tax reform “stimulus” funded by a substantial increase in the fiscal deficit. [...]
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