Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
According to the most recent report from the federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US economy added 142,000 jobs during August while the unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.2 percent. Since the highly disappointing July jobs report, media reports on the state of the job market have become far less positive. This report was described by […]
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
According to the most recent report from the federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US economy added 114,000 jobs (according to the establishment survey) during July. This was a lackluster number that came in below expectations, and it wasn’t enough to prevent a surge in the unemployment rate up to 4.3 percent. Moreover, the “underemployment” rate, the “U-6” unemployment rate, jumped substantially from 7.4 percent to 7.8 percent. Excluding the Covid Panic, that’s the largest year-over-year increase in U-6 since the Great Recession.
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
According to the most recent report from the federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US economy added 206,000 jobs during June while the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.1 percent. Unlike most months over the past year—which repeatedly described the employment situation as “strong” and “a blowout”—the general media narrative for the June jobs report […]
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
In recent months, stories from both the legacy media and the independent media have continued to pile up on how undocumented foreign nationals—also known as “migrants” and “illegal aliens”—are able to take advantage of a vast network of taxpayer-funded benefits in daycare, medical care, housing, and more. For example, both the New York Post and Denver Post report that […]
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
Money supply growth fell again in June, remaining deep in negative territory after turning negative in November 2022 for the first time in twenty-eight years. June’s drop continues a steep downward trend from the unprecedented highs experienced during much of the past two years. Since April 2021, money supply growth has slowed quickly, and since November, […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
Money supply growth fell again in April, plummeting further into negative territory after turning negative in November 2022 for the first time in twenty-eight years. April’s drop continues a steep downward trend from the unprecedented highs experienced during much of the past two years. Since April 2021, money supply growth has slowed quickly, and since November, […]
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
The personal savings rate is near seventeen-year lows. Credit card debt is at record levels. Millions of prime-age workers have quit the job market, and full-time employment continues to wither. On the other hand, the Biden Administration wants you to think things have never been better. Last week, following the release of December’s jobs data […]
Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes
Last week, CNN featured a story called “Men are dropping out of the workforce. Here’s why” The article went on to tell us virtually nothing at all about why so many men are leaving the workforce. Although as many as seven million men have stayed out of the workforce for varying reasons, the CNN piece […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
The federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics released new price inflation data today, and according to the report, price inflation during the month decelerated slightly, but remained near 40-year highs. According to the BLS, Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rose 7.7 percent year over year during October, before seasonal adjustment. That’s the twentieth month in a row […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
The Bank of Canada on Wednesday increased its policy interest rate (known as the overnight target rate) from 1.0 percent to 1.5 percent. This was the second fifty–basis point increase since April and is the third target rate increase since March of this year. Canada’s target rate had been flat at 0.25 percent for twenty-three months following the […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
For parents who rely on baby formula—whether by choice or due to medical necessity—the nationwide baby formula shortage has become increasingly difficult to ignore. According to the Wall Street Journal, Walgreens, Target, CVS, and Kroger have all begun rationing supplies of formula. Covid lockdowns, combined with a product recall by formula manufacturer Abbott Nutrition have created a […]
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
The US government today likes to pretend that it is the perennial champion of political independence for countries that were once behind the Iron Curtain. What is often forgotten, however, is that in the days following the fall of the Berlin Wall, Washington opposed independence for Soviet republics like Ukraine and the Baltic states. In […]
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
According to new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, price inflation in February rose to the highest level recorded in more than forty years. According to the Consumer Price Index for February, year-over-year price inflation rose to 7.9 percent. It hasn’t been that high since January 1982, when the growth rate was at 8.3 percent. […]
Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes
In discussions surrounding the world’s monetary systems today, there is usually one thing almost everyone can agree on: that money should be controlled by the organizations we call “states” or “sovereign states.” Nowadays when we say “the US dollar” we mean the currency issued by the US government. When we say “the British pound” we mean […]
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee voted to continue with a target federal funds rate of 0.25 percent, and to continue with large-scale asset purchases. According to the committee’s press release: The Committee decided to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and expects it […]
Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes
The reality of federal spending under Donald Trump did much to put to rest the obviously wrong and long-disproved notion that Republicans are the political party of “fiscal responsibility.” With George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, it was pretty much “full speed ahead” as far as federal spending was concerned. Under George W. Bush, some of the […]
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
Perhaps not since the nineteenth century have so many American voters so fervently doubted the outcome of a national election. A Slate headline from December 13 reads: “82 Percent of Trump Voters Say Biden’s Win Isn’t Legitimate.” If even half true, this poll means tens of millions of Americans believe the incoming ruling party in Washington got its political […]