Archive for December 2011
Budgeting Math
Since the Super Committee failed $1.2 trillion in mandatory budgets cuts, starting in ’13 and running through ’21, will commence. But, the $1.2 trillion in cuts are actually only $984 billion! The law assumed that by not borrowing $984 billion, interest costs would fall by $216 billion and that counts as savings! Social Security and…
Read MoreTaxing License
In DC there are 8,600 cabs for 600K people; plenty of cabs and a hacker license is cheap. In Chicago there are restrictions; only 6,951 cabs for a population of 3 million, and a license costs $200,000. In Boston, there are just 1,825 cabs and a license costs $385,000. And, in NYC there are only…
Read MoreShop or Drop?
Consumers are spending but for how much longer? Over the past year disposable income is down, savings has fallen from 5.3% to 3.5%, household net worth has fallen by $2.4 trillion as house prices keep falling and credit card debt is up. Luxury spending is strong but chain-store sales were down in Oct and Nov…
Read MoreWhere are My Wages?
Over the six quarters ’09Q2 through ’10Q4 corporate profits captured 88% ($464 billion) of the growth in real national income ($528 billion) while wages and salaries accounted for slightly more than 1% of the growth ($7 billion). Through ’11Q1 corporate profits were 92% of growth and wages and salaries actually fell by $22 billion! The…
Read MorePacking it in!
The Friday File: Where to invest? The S&P has been marking time for over a decade, Europe is in recession, Treasuries can only go down as yields rise, and gold looks pricey at $1,700. The answer, buy stock in the Green Bay Packers! It pays no dividends, offers no voting rights, and is instantly worth…
Read MoreSwiped Away
Due to Dodd-Frank, the Fed capped fees merchants pay credit card companies (CCCs) on debit cards (DCs) to about 21 cents from about 44 cents. When the fee was 44 cents, CCCs often reduced DC fees on small transactions; less than $5 or $10. Because the fee was lowered, CCCs now want the full 21…
Read MoreUdder Nonsense
Eager to take advantage of fat margins dairy farmers around the world ramped up production in response to high prices. But, those same record prices weakened consumer demand for milk (down 4%), cheese (1.5%) and butter (2.5%). Now, the increased supply and decreased demand have resulted in 17% lower prices for milk! How many dairy…
Read MoreGDP for Higher
During Q3 ‘11 U.S. GDP finally exceeded the real pre-recession peak of total economic output recorded in Q4 ‘07. It took 15 quarters to offset the 5.1% decline in output during the Great Recession, 3 times the average number of quarters needed to reach the prior peak in other post-WWII recessions. The bigger problem, the…
Read MoreTunnels Going to Pot
Authorities recently found 32 tons of pot after stumbling on a well built cross-border tunnel linking San Diego and Tijuana. The agents who made the discovery were surprised. I wonder why; they have found over 70 such tunnels since 10/08, more than in the previous 6 years! Why, the proliferation? Because of increased and improved…
Read MoreUnemployed and Well Slept
The Friday File: What do the involuntary unemployed do with their free time? Researchers find that about 40% of their “free” time is spent working in the home which includes cooking, doing laundry, shopping, home improvement projects, caring for elder parents etc… 30% of the time goes to sleeping longer and TV. Another 30% is…
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