Job reports typically report on jobs as if they are a commodity; a job is a job, whether you’re a CEOs or a greeter at Wal-Mart. So it’s good news…
The Job Creation Snow Job
Consider this headline from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Unemployment rate declines to 4.7% in May; payroll employment changes little (+38,000). Great news, right? The unemployment rate fell to…
Set. Down. No Hike.
The economic outlook can be summed up in five words: Everything’s great, except what isn’t. We’ll lead with the “everything’s great” part, as seen through the filter of the Federal…
The Stock Market Needs “Seasonal Adjustment”
How many jobs did the U.S. economy generate in December? The correct answer is: 292,000 281,000 11,000 None of the above David Stockman wrote on his “Contra Corner” blog: “According…
Appearance vs. Reality
Maybe if the good news about the U.S. economy gets repeated often enough, appearance will become reality. We’re not there yet. The official word from the U.S. Bureau of Labor…
Century Old Fed Has Inflationary History
With the Federal Reserve Board celebrating its 100th birthday, it’s a good time to look back on the past century to see how The Fed has fared. We’ve been critical…
Another Record Smashed: More Than 100,000,000 Americans Not Working
The Labor Force Participation Rate has fallen and it can’t get up. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported this week that 90,609,000 Americans who are 16 or older…
Get Back to Work
Labor Day has passed. It’s time to get back to work … or at least think about work. Work, or the lack of it, is what the economy is all…
How Baby Boomers Can Benefit the Economy – Keep Working
If baby boomers decide to postpone their retirement, it may not solve all of the country’s economic problems, but it will help address most of them. So it’s good news…
Ben, the Great and Powerful
“Bernanke said, in essence, that he wasn’t a magician.” …