Mosler Economics

Capitalism has always been characterized by a massive scrap heap of failures. Not to say the ‘winners’ don’t make it all worthwhile!;) Why technology spending isn’t all its cracked up to be: Study By Javier E. DavidOct 31 (CNBC) — Large companies often spend a good deal of money on cultivating their technology, but a new study suggests nearly 70 percent of what they spend may be misallocated.In a study, Genpact Research Institute recently found that, of nearly $600 billion spent on digital...

Looks a lot more negative since the October 5 Saudi price cuts than the futures markets. These price are more indicative of prices of physical oil vs financial portfolio activities:Note the lack of results of ‘monetary policy’: China’s October factory, services surveys show economy still wobbly Nov 1 (Reuters) — Activity in China’s manufacturing sector unexpectedly contracted in October for a third straight month, an official survey showed on Sunday, fuelling fears the economy may still be...

Rail Week Ending 24 October 2015: A Worse Week Among Bad Weeks Week 42 of 2015 shows same week total rail traffic (from same week one year ago) and monthly total rail traffic (from same month one year ago) declined according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) traffic data. Intermodal traffic contracted year-over-year, which accounts for approximately half of movements. and weekly railcar counts continued in contraction. See how the growth rate slowed down just before year...

Income and spending and pricing low and lower than expected: Personal Income and OutlaysHighlightsInflation is not building based on the Fed’s favorite reading, the core PCE price index which inched a lower-than-expected 0.1 percent higher in September with the year-on-year rate steady and flat at only plus 1.3 percent. These results will not lift the odds for a December hike at the next FOMC.Income and spending data also came in below expectations, at plus 0.1 percent each vs expectations...

A weak number and Q4 not looking so good either. Domestic spending decelerating as incomes fade from reduced capex. Slowing investment, weak exports, and inventory reductions should also continue into Q4 as top line growth continues to fade. And lower prices speak to lower demand. Vehicle sales also looking to slow into Q4 as per recent vehicle loan stats and industry forecasts. GDPHighlightsSteady domestic spending helped to prop up GDP growth in the third-quarter which came in at an...

This is just for ‘goods’ but seems to be counter to all other releases reporting weak exports, but it has been zig zagging it’s way lower and August was particularly weak. And note the weakness in car imports: International trade in goodsHighlightsSeptember reversed August’s outsized goods trade gap, coming in at $58.6 billion vs $67.2 billion. Exports jumped 3.1 percent following August’s 3.2 percent decline with wide gains in consumer goods, autos, industrial supplies and capital goods....

Down to .8: Crude inventory that used to pile up from high cost shale production is coming down as drilling is way down and existing well output declines some 70% in its first two years. Meanwhile, US imports increase as domestic production decreases: Crude stocks at the Cushing delivery hub fell by 748,000 barrels, data from the industry group, the American Petroleum Institute, showed late on Tuesday.Iraq’s southern oil exports have reached 3.10 million barrels so far this month,...

A lot less than expected based on jobs assessment, and note the drop in car buying plans: United States : Consumer ConfidenceHighlightsA decline in the assessment of the current jobs market pulled down the consumer confidence index to a lower-than-expected 97.6 in October. This is about 2.4 points below Econoday’s low-end forecast and 5.0 points below a revised September.Consumers are saying there are fewer jobs available then there were in September and more say jobs are hard to get. But...

Last I checked this ‘counts’ as ‘personal consumption expenditure’: Premiums for Health Insurance Bought on Exchanges to Climb in 2016 Oct 26 (WSJ) — The Obama administration said many consumers will see noticeable premium increases when buying health coverage on insurance exchanges in 2016. Federal officials said Monday that the price of the second-lowest-cost midrange “silver plan”—a key metric for premiums around the country—will increase by 7.5% on average across the three-dozen states...

Signs of stabilizing: So the ECB threatened more negative rates and QE, both placebos at best, analogous to spraying the crowd with a barrage of blanks, which nonetheless dispersed the crowd. However, with the record and growing euro area 31 billion trade surplus last month and a growing US trade deficit augmented by increased petro imports as domestic production falls, I expect those fundamentals to dominate: Interesting how growth that supported GDP in 2014 peaked as oil price broke...