from Dean Baker It is a complete article of faith in intellectual circles that the market is responsible for the rise in inequality that we have seen in the United States and elsewhere over the last half-century. Intellectual types literally cannot even consider the alternative that inequality was the result of government policies, not the natural workings of the market. The standard line is that technology and globalization were responsible for the increasing gap in income between people...
Read More »Job openings, hires, Manufacturers orders, real estate lending
Continues to look to me to like the increased government deficit from the rate hikes, at the macro level, continues to support output and employment and is not triggering a recession as feared? Still a very high number- well above pre-Covid levels: Back to pre-Covid trend line: A slight decline for the month but still trending higher. No sign of recession here: The rate of growth of bank real estate lending continues to increase since the rate hikes were initiated:...
Read More »Job openings, hires, Manufacturers orders, real estate lending
Continues to look to me to like the increased government deficit from the rate hikes, at the macro level, continues to support output and employment and is not triggering a recession as feared? Still a very high number- well above pre-Covid levels: Back to pre-Covid trend line: A slight decline for the month but still trending higher. No sign of recession here: The rate of growth of bank real estate lending continues to increase since the rate hikes were initiated:...
Read More »Open thread Oct. 3, 2022
The price of economics
from Peter Radford Thank you Mariano Torras. You said the following in a letter to the Financial Times: “I would venture that there is a professional motive for perpetuating — through the use of elegant and abstract models — the fantasy that economics is a science. The prestige, the stature and influence that such a myth permits is undeniable. Yet, far more perniciously, the ostensible neutrality of “economic science” provides seemingly unshakeable ideological cover against critics who...
Read More »Construction spending, GDP forecast, Canada PMI, earnings forecasts
So far so good for Q3 that ended Sep 30- about in line with pre-Covid growth rates: Much like the US, much of the rest of the world is hiking rates with high debt/GDP and supporting their economies that had slowed from fiscal contraction with massive government interest payments- universal basic income for those who already have money: Looks like the pro forecasters see accelerating earrings ahead- yet more evidence the rate hikes aren’t working in the intended...
Read More »Construction spending, GDP forecast, Canada PMI, earnings forecasts
So far so good for Q3 that ended Sep 30- about in line with pre-Covid growth rates: Much like the US, much of the rest of the world is hiking rates with high debt/GDP and supporting their economies that had slowed from fiscal contraction with massive government interest payments- universal basic income for those who already have money: Looks like the pro forecasters see accelerating earrings ahead- yet more evidence the rate hikes aren’t working in the intended...
Read More »Commodity prices, PMI index
Lots of commodities to or near pre-Covid levels: Still looking lower but still positive and not yet indicating recession:
Read More »Review of “The Future is History”
I’ve long held that one of the greatest blows to American democracy was the disappearance of the Soviet Union. With the advent of the Cold War, as the USSR went from ally to adversary, the US was shamed into embrace civil rights and to improve public education. I personally benefitted from the updated public school STEM curricula driven by the space race. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the US has been in retreat in these areas and increasing...
Read More »Sabotaging Germany, blaming Russia: another view of the Nord Stream pipeline attack
Imagine Moscow was nuked yesterday, and this morning The New York Times ran a frontpage headline “Moscow nuked: Russia proves its hostility to Europe again”. Sounds pretty crazy? Yet, in a manner of speaking, that is what happened last week. On Tuesday September 27th three major leaks caused by undersea explosions were discovered in the […]
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