Silicone makes our lives safer, easier, healthier, and more enjoyable. It plays a role in products as diverse as facial creams, airbags, caulk, medical devices and smartphones. If silicone were to disappear tomorrow, we would lead much different lives. There is an attempt underway to ban silicone products without providing evidence that these products are […]
Is it the Economy or is it Politics that Fuels our Discontent?
In a buoyant economy like this, why do so many feel the grip of creeping gloom? In the 3rd quarter of 2018, the US GDP grew by 3%. Inflation scored a tame 1.6%. There are 7.3 million job openings available – more jobs available than there are unemployed people – 6.5 million in January 2019. […]
Gross Domestic Product Grew Only 1.2% last Quarter
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its first second quarter estimate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2016. The BEA’s report showed that the economy grew at an annual percent of only 1.2%. This comes after an anemic increase of only 0.8% during the first quarter of 2016 and a similarly weak growth estimate for the fourth quarter of […]
GDP increased only 0.5%
The BLS’ advanced estimate reveals that GDP, the nations most comprehensive measure of economic output, increased only 0.5% during the first quarter of 2016.
Productivity and Wage Stagnation
Annual wage growth has been an anemic half of one percent for American employees in the period 2007 to 2015. In that same period, labor productivity crawled at a 1.2% pace, down from the more typical 2.6% pace during 2000 to 2007. Wage stagnation was more intense for those in the middle income strata. Over […]
Awaiting a Competent Leader
A Gallup study of how working age Americans see their retirement income reveals significant concerns. They will continue to rely on Social Security, pensions, IRAs, 401(k)s and other savings, but for many, total income will be so inadequate for retirement that employment after retirement age is inevitable for many. Some traditional sources of retirement income […]
The Consumers Likely Mood in November
Consumers’ moods reflect the current and anticipated domestic economy and world events. The actual levels of employment opportunities, paychecks and cost-of-living can either free consumers to pursue their wants or constrain them to hunker down. Threats from abroad can worry consumers about citizens’ safety and the nation’s ability to thrive. Since consumers take their moods […]
Killing Our Carbon-Related Economic Recovery
In an economy with elevated unemployment, chronic under-employment, feeble GDP growth, and federal deficits as far as consumers can see, there is little stimulus to thank except for the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing and the turnaround in US oil and gas production, driven by fracking. US crude production is up 2 million barrels per day […]
Internet Driving the Economy and Helping Small Businesses Grow
Evidence that the Internet has had a profound effect on the way people live and do business is all around us. We can find anecdotal proof in almost everything we do—most people’s lives have been changed indefinitely by the technology that has cropped up in the past several decades. And small businesses, even more so, […]
When Some AGs Won’t Share
Early last week, the New York Attorney General demanded that Airbnb, the company that allows you to rent or share a room or the entirety of your house or apartment, turn over all of its data on New York City’s estimated 15,000 hosts. The Attorney General issued a subpoena in the course of investigating Airbnb […]
