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Category Archives: Weekly Economic Summary
Student Loans Destroying Consumption
Written by Steven Hansen Over the long Christmas Holiday weekend, The New York Times published For Poor, Leap to College Often Ends in a Hard Fall. The post is a anecdotal essay correlating being poor and the inability of those … Continue reading
Productivity is Bad: The Economy Follows
Written by Steven Hansen Pundits seem to comment on elements outside their comfort zone (areas of real expertise). Everyone is guilty from time-to-time. I know my comfort zones, and one is in labor and labor dynamics which formerly was the … Continue reading
Posted in Employment, Weekly Economic Summary, aa syndication
Tagged Economy, ECRI, goods, imports, productivity, recession, Steven Hansen, unemployment, weekly economic summary, weekly review
2 Comments
Is US Debt Caused by the Trade Imbalance?
Written by Steven Hansen ….. the fiscal (government) deficit in the US cannot go away unless we also deal with the trade deficit. As we will see, it is a simple accounting issue, and one based on 400 years of … Continue reading
Visualizing the Fiscal Cliff As a Life Extinction Event
Written by Steven Hansen [This post is loaded with sarcasm] A meteor coming towards the US East Coast is unlikely to stir up more headlines than the Fiscal Cliff – expiring tax cuts and forced spending cuts “destroying” America if … Continue reading
Posted in Weekly Economic Summary, aa syndication
Tagged aa syndication, Economy, ECRI, fiscal cliff, goods, imports, income, recession, Steven Hansen, Tax, unemployment, weekly economic summary, weekly review
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Making The Economy Grow by Adding More Debt
Written by Steven Hansen I pen this while listening to the pundits talk about the terrible economy moving forward. I too think the USA economy going forward will be mediocre at best. This week ECRI has stated the recession began … Continue reading
Posted in Weekly Economic Summary, aa syndication
Tagged aa syndication, debt, Economy, ECRI, GDP, goods, imports, Joe Sixpack, recession, Steven Hansen, unemployment, weekly economic summary, weekly review
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The Twinkies Effect On Employment
Written by Steven Hansen While we watch the drama over the demise of Hostess Brands, the financial media hums with the suggestion that the silly labor movement, as well as business errors have driven this company into the ground. Additionally, … Continue reading
The Economic Strangling of Joe Sixpack
Written by Steven Hansen I am not a lover of GDP as THE measure of the economy. GDP measures money movement across sectors of the economy that economists have determined is “productive” growth. Nothing is wrong with GDP as “one … Continue reading
What Impacts Will Obamacare Have On Employment?
Written by Steven Hansen There has been much talk about the impact of Obamacare on employment dynamics in the USA. Much of the recent discussion centers on the Obamacare definition of full-time employment: The law defines a full-time worker as … Continue reading
The Week That Was Stormy
Written by Stephen Swanson A shortened trading week was not affected by economic releases and during the past week we saw a slew of releases generally confirming our picture of stable but anemic growth but with hints of strength in … Continue reading
The Goods on Imports – A Growing Problem?
Written by Steven Hansen America makes nothing. Seems like most things we buy are made in Mexico, China, Indonesia or many other places. However, perceptions are not facts, and even the data can be spun to support a specific opinion. … Continue reading
Posted in Weekly Economic Summary, aa syndication
Tagged Economy, ECRI, goods, imports, recession, Steven Hansen, trade balance, unemployment, weekly review
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The Week That Was: 27 October 2012
Making Slow Progress Written by Stephen Swanson The economic data released during the past week tended to be solid and confirming with no sharp breaks from past trends and nothing to change the course of our thinking. If anything, we … Continue reading
Gains in Employment Likely As Good As It Gets?
Written by Steven Hansen Most believe there is something wrong with jobs growth – and the current jobs growth is anemic compared to the past. While it is true that jobs growth is not good today, it is not much … Continue reading
Posted in Weekly Economic Summary, aa syndication
Tagged Economy, ECRI, recession, Steven Hansen, unemployment, weekly review
1 Comment
Swallowing Obama’s and Romney’s Magic Economic Pills
Written by Steven Hansen One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small, and the ones that mother gives you, don’t do anything at all, go ask Alice, when she’s ten feet tall – Jefferson Airplane, White Rabbit … Continue reading
Posted in Weekly Economic Summary, aa syndication
Tagged austrian, Economy, ECRI, Keynesian, recession, Steven Hansen, unemployment, weekly review
3 Comments
Nasty Trade Data Shows Weakening Economy
Written by Steven Hansen One does not have to cherry pick the data right now to make a case the economy is sucking swamp water. On the other hand, there remains no smoking gun showing the economy has slipped into … Continue reading
Posted in Weekly Economic Summary, aa syndication
Tagged Economy, ECRI, exports, imports, recession, Steven Hansen, trade data, unemployment, weekly review
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Economy Screwed Up because 8% of Real Workforce Is Idle
Written by Steven Hansen Over last weekend Econintersect issued its October 2012 economic index. The October index value had dropped precipitously – the largest one month drop since January 2009. However the index was not (yet?) indicating Main Street was … Continue reading
Posted in Weekly Economic Summary, aa syndication
Tagged Economy, ECRI, labor force, recession, Steven Hansen, unemployment, weekly review
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Is Santa Claus Bringing 1 Million Jobs for the Holidays?
Written by Steven Hansen Next week, the BLS will issue the Jobs Report – the last one before the usual holiday hiring season begins. Jobs growth is seasonal – and most are so attuned to the seasonally adjusted data that … Continue reading
Posted in Employment, Weekly Economic Summary, aa syndication
Tagged christmas, Economy, ECRI, jobs, recession, santa claus, Steven Hansen, unemployment, weekly review
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Gasoline Use Down, Recession Possibility Up
Written by Steven Hansen There are enough analysts believing the USA is in, or about to be in, a recession – that one is kept in a higher alert status for signs. These informed opinions need to be taken seriously … Continue reading
Posted in Weekly Economic Summary, aa syndication
Tagged diesel, Economy, ECRI, energy, gasoline, recession, Steven Hansen, unemployment, weekly review
1 Comment
Is Joe Sixpack Better Off Going Into this Election?
Written by Steven Hansen Unless one is off the grid, political ads resonate through the media. The one issue on which the two political camps disagree is whether the voters are better off than they were when the current administration … Continue reading
Posted in Weekly Economic Summary, aa syndication
Tagged Economy, ECRI, Joe Sixpack, recession, Steven Hansen, unemployment, weekly review
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Chicken or Egg: Employment Is the Real Economic Driver
Written by Steven Hansen It is easy to start blaming poor economic conditions for the poor jobs growth. But what if the poor economic conditions were caused by poor jobs growth? Consider that the widely used tool of GDP as … Continue reading
Posted in Employment, Weekly Economic Summary, aa syndication
Tagged Economy, ECRI, GDP, recession, Steven Hansen, unemployment, weekly review
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This Week’s Data Dispells Recession Fears For Now
Written by Steven Hansen The amount of economic data and analysis in cyberspace is overwhelming. One must pre-decide what is important, and not important. Even with automation where human minds do not touch the data – weighting factors or algorithms … Continue reading
Posted in GDP, Weekly Economic Summary, aa syndication
Tagged Economy, ECRI, GDP, recession, Steven Hansen, unemployment, weekly review
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