Archive for March 2018

The Friday File: The world’s most expensive stock (if you can call it that) chocolate bar that isn’t coated in edible 24-karat gold leaf, that doesn’t come with a rare gold coin, and that doesn’t weigh over 100 lbs, is a boundary-pushing 2015 vintage, Ecuador-based, chocolate bar from To’ak that costs just $355 for a…

Since 1995, DC has imposed a curfew for those under age 17 to improve safety. Regrettably, after examining the data, the policy has made things worse. The curfew increases gunfire incidents by 0.045 per precinct, or about seven more gunfire events per week. This is because the streets are less busy, reducing the chances of…

In 17Q4, US household wealth rose by slightly more than $2 trillion to a record $98.75 trillion, or 6.8 times disposable income, surpassing the previous record of 6.52, in 06Q1. The increase in wealth attributable to the soaring stock market was $1.35 trillion, while wealth from real estate holdings, which includes more than residential houses,…

Last Friday, the current bull market turned nine, the second longest bull since the 1942, but still several years away from the 1987-2000 record bull. How much longer can it last? Who knows, but don’t look to the stock market. Since 1900, there have been 22 recessions and 20 have coincided with a bear market.…

February’s job report was stellar! 313,000 net new jobs, the best increase since 7/16, and upward revisions to December and January totaled 54,000. Moreover, the labor force participation rate rose from 62.7% to 63%, a rate not bettered since 3/14. That led to the labor force rising by 800,000, the largest increase since 1983, which…

The Friday File: In 1974, Hungarian architecture professor Erno Rubik invents what is now known as the Rubik’s cube. It has 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible combinations, or 43 quintillion. Since its introduction in 1980, 400 million have been sold, and currently global sales are running at 15 million/year. The world record for the quickest solution is 4.59…

With 325 million people, the US is the world’s third largest nation behind China with 1.4 billion and India with 1.3 billion. By 2100, India will be the biggest at 1.5 billion, followed by China at 1 billion, Nigeria at 800 million, and the US at 450 million. Earth’s population is currently 7.5 billion. The…

In 1967, 8.1% of households earned more than $100,000 inflation adjusted, 53.2% (the middle class) earned between $35,000 and $100,000, and 38.7% earned less than $35,000. Today, 27.7% of the population earns greater than $100,000 (three times the percentage back in 1967), 42.1% earn between $35,000 and $100,000, and 30.2% earn less than $35,000. The…

While US household debt is slowly rising, as a percentage of GDP it’s 20 percentage points below its housing bubble peak of 100%. Nations with fast rising and high household debt-to-GDP ratios include Switzerland at 130%, Australia at 120%, Canada and Norway at 100%, New Zealand at 95%, South Korea at 92%, and Sweden at…

The imposition of a 10% tariff on aluminum and a 25% tariff on steel will boost inflation by upwards of one-tenth-of-one percent and reduce GDP by an equal amount. This is because prices will rise for all items containing these goods. These tariffs will boost employment up from 150,000 in US steel mills and aluminum…