Farm Land Boom Fading? The surge in the price of farm land has been one of the most persistent developments in the last few years – certainly a contrast to the value of residential and commercial property in the same period. In the last year the average price for farmland in the middle of the [...]
How Much is Enough? The past few years have been all about achieving the seemingly impossible. Every discussion of the federal budget was essentially a lament that something had to be done but at the same time there was a sense that achieving progress would be impossible without some kind of massive effort and a [...]
Recovery in Retail May be Short Lived The latest data on retail sales has been unexpectedly positive and this has provided some additional evidence that there is a very slow but somewhat steady economic recovery underway. The increase was not especially significant – a rise of just 0.1% but this comes on top of a [...]
The “Race” is On One does not openly lobby to become the head of the Federal Reserve – that would be in poor taste and would make it seem like a political appointment. Of course, it is a political appointment but with a key difference as compared the majority of the Cabinet positions and other [...]
The Student Loan Dilemma One of the more controversial parts of the White House budget is a provision that would write off billions of dollars of student loan debt over the next decade. The plan is referred to as income based repayment and calls for the borrower to make payments based on their income – [...]
The Recession and the Young The recession of the last decade has had a disproportionately serious impact on the younger population in the US – those under 35. The main reason seems to be that this population is far more dependent on the value of their home. The collapse in the housing market meant that [...]
Connections Between Home Ownership and Unemployment This is the kind of research that takes one aback a little. How can something like owning one’s own home have an impact on whether somebody can get a new job? It would seem that there is no conceivable connection and that this is merely a coincidence. The fact [...]
ETI at Highest Levels Since 2008 It has been pointed out that measuring unemployment is challenging. It is a constantly moving target and a great many of the decisions made about hiring and firing do not show up in the economic statistics for weeks and months. This makes the revisions more important than the original [...]
Do the Numbers Justify the Enthusiasm? It is not that we want to rain on the parade but it doesn’t seem that the latest employment data really justifies the level of raw enthusiasm that has been manifested in the stock market or the media. It is certainly true that the numbers are as good as [...]
Lack of Demand Affects Trade It comes as no shock but the global slowdown has affected trade. The warnings have been sounded by nearly every global analyst as they have looked at the activity (or lack of it) in some of the major supplier nations. Part of the challenge to Chinese growth has come from [...]
