It’s been a while since we’ve checked in on inflation expectations in the market for treasury bonds ant T-Bills. However, with recent expansionary programs everywhere like, such as the program lovingly named Quantitative Easing 2.0. Let’s look at inflation expectations before, during rumors, and after the announcement (today…) buffered around the reports of US Fed Quantitative Easing.
Tax Exemption of Charitable Contributions
Posted By Last updated November 19th, 2012 2 Comments
Charitable contributions are an important part of the American political system and the American tax code. In this article, Cameron Daniels questions whether the tax exemption for charitable contributions is a good policy decision.
Post Mid-Term Breakdown
Posted By Last updated November 3rd, 2010 Leave a Comment
What did we learn? What surprised us? Well, the Republican wave was a real phenomenon, as we saw yesterday. CNN is projecting at this hour Republicans having 243 seats in the House of Representatives, vs. 192 Democratic seats (64 flips from Republican to Democratic). The Senate is too close to call in Alaska, Colorado, and Washington. Alaska’s Senator will caucus Republican whether Joe Miller or Lisa Murkowski wins. Assuming the Democratic Senate candidate in Washington or Colorado wins, Democrats will hold 52 seats in the Senate.
Live Blog on 11/2 Midterm Elections
Posted By Last updated November 2nd, 2010 6 Comments
Live blogging for the midterm 2010 elections. Keep refreshing! 5-10 minute updates.
Underwater Houses?
Posted By Last updated October 24th, 2010 1 Comment
No, you haven’t found Atlantis (or even a good joke…), I’m talking about houses in which mortgage holders owe more money on the home than the debt they are paying in their mortgage(s). Enter this post from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. John Krainer and Stephen LeRoy have calculated the number of mortgages underwater in Q4 2000 and Q4 2009 and conveniently mapped it so you can visually assess the damage.
Matching Jobs to Skills?
Posted By Last updated October 16th, 2010 3 Comments
Sorry it took a while to pick this one up, but here’s an interesting bit of data for your consumption: ‘Middle Educated’ workers, or those who list some college or degrees less than a bachelor’s degree, were unemployed at a higher rate in September than ever before in the 20-year history of the statistic. Yes, even more than last year when the overall unemployment rate was even higher.
Extra, Extra! Read All About It! Recession Over!
Posted By Last updated September 23rd, 2010 1 Comment
Yes, the headline is true. As of two days ago, the (“Great”?) recession was declared over by the US National Bureau of Economic Research. The Bureau looks at lagging indicators of recessions, and therefore declared the end of the recession to be June 2009. With a start of December 2007, the recession lasted 18 months, becoming the longest recession of the post-World War II era. And yes, if the economy does decline into recession again, it will be considered a ‘double dip’ recession, the likes of which haven’t been seen since (according to NBER records, that is) the early 1980s!
An Attainable, ‘Perfect’ Salary?
Posted By Last updated September 11th, 2010 Leave a Comment
Close your eyes or do whatever it is you do when you meditate… ponder the following question, “At what salary would you be content?” Okay, end the meditation. Were you thinking $75,000 annually? That’s the number that an analysis of 2008-2009 Gallup poll data by the economists Angus Deaton and Daniel Kahneman came up with. So, what does that mean?
9.6%…
Posted By Last updated September 4th, 2010 2 Comments
The official U-3 unemployment rate is now 9.6%, up a tick from the 9.5% we saw last report. However, private employers added 67,000 jobs in August, while July’s numbers were revised upwards to 107,000 private sector positions and June numbers were also adjusted to 61,000.
Neuroeconomics: A New Way of Examining Markets
Posted By Last updated February 26th, 2013 Leave a Comment
When we think about the study of economics, we usually think of the mathematical models we were taught in high school and college. The entire corpus of economic studies has been founded on the notion of people as predictable, “rational” actors. Neuroeconomics, a relatively new field that is acquiring more and more intellectual currency, closely studies human behavior and its influences, based largely on stunning advances made in neuroscience over the past few years. (Post by Lauren Bailey)
