Tag: Economy
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The Fed can’t save the rest of us
It’s tempting to say there are four branches of government. In addition to the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches, there is effectively a fourth branch of government: the Federal Reserve. Often called the Federal Reserve Bank, it’s not a bank at all. You can’t deposit money into it, withdraw money from it or take out…
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Low-wage employers are getting a comeuppance
There’s something going on in the labor market that’s caught my eye. Low wage workers seem to be rebelling. It’s hard to miss the stories in the news. Despite a 6.1 percent unemployment rate nationally in the United States, workers don’t seem to be anxious to return to the workforce. As a result many employers,…
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K-ing our way to a recovery
My Thanksgiving was spent with family. Only in this case, family means my wife and me, plus two cats who got a few scraps of turkey with their supper. It was a scaled down meal absent some of the extra fatty dishes my wife makes during the holidays, like her cheese souffle. Also missing was…
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Some surprisingly simple ways to actually grow the economy
In my last post, I discussed why the soaring stock market doesn’t mean a lot to most people. Roughly half of us don’t have the money to buy into the stock market, and most of us that do can only afford to do so through a retirement vehicle like a 401-K or an IRA. The…
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The free market is failing us
Are you feeling freer yet? From all the free market stuff happening, I mean. What I’ve been noticing – and what you are probably noticing too – are all the vacant storefronts. Retailing must be in recession. We have a tiny mall across the river from us. I was in there the other day looking…
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The negatives of negative interest rates
Donald Trump wants the Federal Reserve to drop interest rates to zero or to even allow them to go negative. It’s pretty obvious why: so he can avoid being at the wheel if a recession inconveniently hits before Election Day. He’s clearly freaking out about the election still more than a year away, as also…
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No bottom for the Republican Party
It looks like I have been giving Republicans too much credit. I assumed there was some core group of Republicans who could agree, “This time Trump has gone too far” and bring him down. Apparently, there is no bottom for the Republican Party. That’s because I assumed that there were some sane Republicans out there.…
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Here’s why the improved economy means so little
The stock market is reaching record highs again, which make us moneyed people woozy. I’m modestly including myself here although I’m not that well moneyed. But I am retired on a nice pension with plenty of assets to draw on should things go south. The Dow Jones Industrial Average passed 27,000 yesterday and closed for…
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The stock buyback warning: stormy economic times are likely ahead
Remember when Trump’s tax cuts were going to put money back into the pockets of working class Americans and create more jobs for them too? Unsurprisingly, this turned out to be a load of peanut butter. With gas now around $3 a gallon, whatever new modest tax cuts trickled down to working America are probably…
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Repost: Hug an illegal immigrant today! (August 2007)
What’s old is new! What’s old in this case is the following post, first posted nearly ten years ago in August 2007. Given Trump’s desire to deport pretty much anyone, it’s as topical now as it was then. And it’s one of my better posts. So time for a repeat. Enjoy! Here is a basic…
Occam's Razor 