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For the last time: Trump inherited a good economy, and he hasn’t made it better

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 9 Comments • 7 years ago

President Trump, who came into office when unemployment was at a then-10-year low, thinks that he was “given a very tough hand,” because when he “came up here, we had an economy that was going...

For the biggest group of American workers, wages aren’t just flat. They’re falling.

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 2 Comments • 7 years ago

President Trump has touted a strong economy, but one measure shows the value of wages has decreased for most American workers. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images The average hourly wage paid to...

Killing the Myth of the Gig Economy

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 4 Comments • 7 years ago

Many pundit types were thrown for a loop by the Labor Department's release of its Contingent Worker Survey yesterday. The survey, the first one since 2005, showed no increase in the percentage of...

No You Assholes, Obama Did Not Do It Too

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 105 Comments • 7 years ago

Let's get this straight: Donald Trump did something unbelievably stupid when he tweeted about the jobs report last Friday morning, 69 minutes before it was public. The president gets an advance...

The Jobs Recovery: A Longer View

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 3 Comments • 7 years ago

With the monthly job-creation streak continuing to set records, the data shed light both on the rebound from the recession and on what’s left to be desired. Friday’s jobs report was a...

Oh, What a Stupid Trade War (Very Slightly Wonkish)

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 138 Comments • 7 years ago

So, the trade war is on . And what a stupid trade war it is. Steel pipes being uploaded for transport in Sassnitz, Germany. Stefan Sauer/DPA, via Associated Press My regular column...

Washington Post Headline Writer Hypes Trucker Shortage

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 2 Comments • 7 years ago

The headline of the Washington Post article should have us all worried, "America has a massive truck driver shortage. Here's why few want an $80,000 job." That sounds pretty dramatic. The...

Capital’s Share of Income Is Way Higher than You Think

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 3 Comments • 7 years ago

Almost half of households’ market income is received for just being wealthy: owning stuff. The shares of income going to “capital” and “labor” are vexed issues. How much is received for...

It's Up to Republicans to Legalize Marijuana

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 101 Comments • 7 years ago

If only Nixon could go to China, as the saying goes, then maybe only Republicans can legalize weed. Marijuana has now been legalized for medical use in many states -- only Idaho, Kansas,...

IMF Strikes Out in Projecting Unemployment as Badly As the Fed

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 3 Comments • 7 years ago

Those of us pushing the Federal Reserve Board to hold off on raising interest rates have pointed out that the members of the Fed's Open Market Committee, like other economists, have repeatedly...

The one tax graph you really need to know

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 43 Comments • 7 years ago

At the heart of the debate over "the 47 percent" is an awful abuse of tax data. This entire conversation is the result of a (largely successful) effort to redefine the debate over taxes from...

On trade, Trump either doesn’t understand the basic facts or he doesn’t care

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 4 Comments • 7 years ago

Currencies go up, and currencies go down, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're being manipulated. That's about as generic as statements get, but it's apparently news to President...

Stock futures plunge, with the Dow heading for a 500 point drop, after China announces new tariffs

Via: galen-marvin-ross • Stock Market & Investments • 60 Comments • 7 years ago

U.S. stock index futures tumbled ahead of Wednesday's open, as concerns over a potential trade war between the U.S. and China intensified. Around 7:30 a.m. ET, Dow Jones industrial average...

Dollar's Decline Laid Bare in Real Rates

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 1 Comments • 7 years ago

Dollar's Decline Laid Bare in Real Rate One thing that could reverse the greenback's drop is if the Fed's doves acknowledge the need to boost interest rates. The dollar is depreciating....

Coal’s Decline Seems Impervious to Trump’s Promises

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 7 Comments • 7 years ago

BOBTOWN, Pa. — When Nic Zmija applied for a job at the 4 West coal mine three years ago, he was tantalized by a fat raise and a secure future. Once hired, he was told that someday even his two...

The Economics of Dirty Old Men

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 3 Comments • 7 years ago

As a candidate, Donald Trump talked incessantly about international trade and how he was going to make America great again by renegotiating trade agreements, forcing foreigners to stop taking...

Does Mnuchin Know? The Dollar Is Weak Already

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 4 Comments • 7 years ago

Investors were bidding up the euro during Trump's first year. European and Asian stocks outperformed U.S. markets, too. In dozens of tweets, President Donald Trump has pressed his claim that...

The Durability of Inflation Derp

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 1 Comments • 7 years ago

The years immediately following the 2008 financial crisis were a golden age of inflation derp, at various levels. There were the Glenn Beck/Ron Paul frothing-at-the-mouth Austrian types...

The Fed Is Targeting the Wrong Inflation

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 1 Comments • 7 years ago

Consumers are increasingly asking: Is this a need or a want? A discernible gap between the rate of price increases for necessities and the one for discretionary purchases is putting the Federal...

Why Americans Missed Out on Public Domain Day (Again)

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 3 Comments • 7 years ago

Aleister Crowley, Dorothy Parker, and René Magritte joined the public domain in 2018, but not in the United States While the rest of the world celebrates free access to the creative work of...

Chinese Consumers Now Rule the World. Get Used to It

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 4 Comments • 8 years ago

It's no longer the "world's factory" as Singles' Day blows away Black Friday. It’s way past time to stop calling China the world’s factory. The country is increasingly the world’s...

What Makes the U.S. Retirement System a Bad Example

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 1 Comments • 8 years ago

A Q&A with a leading authority on the Netherlands' retirement savings system, one of the world's best. The headline from the Dutch business newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad caught my eye...

Workers Won't Profit From Corporate Tax Windfall

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 1 Comments • 8 years ago

Companies are preparing to buy back stock and increase dividends. In other words, to reward capital instead of labor. Even before the Republican tax bill was signed, companies were lining up...

Why the U.S. could slap import duties on a plane made in Alabama

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 1 Comments • 8 years ago

U.S. trade officials on Monday will hear final arguments over Boeing’s claim that it has been harmed by planned imports of Canadian aircraft, in a case that underscores corporations’ efforts to...

Inside the Home of Instant Pot, the Kitchen Gadget That Spawned a Religion

Via: bob-nelson • Stock Market & Investments • 8 Comments • 8 years ago

KANATA, Ontario — Truth be told, the headquarters of Instant Pot don’t look much like a church. But inside this sterile, gray office building on the outskirts of Ottawa, behind a door marked...