Global Economic News and Analysis
Written by Steven Hansen Ask 10 people what is the definition of unemployment, and you will get 10 different answers. The tragedy is that it is likely no person’s definition will match the definition used in the creation of the headline unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). And the methodology the BLS …
Continue reading “Old People Distorting Understanding Of the Employment Situation”
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 who are poor to become higher educated. This post shows how easy it was for …
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 major part of my last life. My least read analysis are ones on productivity – …
Written by Steven Hansen The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the U.S. declined 0.2% in November to 95.8 (2004 = 100). Overall, the index value has been in a tight range for most of 2012 implying growth is sluggish. This index is designed to forecast the economy six months in advance. The market …
Continue reading “November 2012 Leading Economic Index Projects Weak Growth”
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 accepted accounting principles. – John Mauldin Trade deficit is currently a headwind to GDP. This …
Continue reading “Is US Debt Caused by the Trade Imbalance?”