The question has merit, but I came to it by a roundabout process. I was thinking about how our savings rate is low and falling. After all, we have lots of reasons to save: We’ve lost huge amounts of wealth over the past couple of years, and many people, especially Baby Boomers anticipating retirement, are… Read more

Europe has created a $1 trillion bailout fund. The United States Federal Reserve Bank has apparently agreed to unlimited currency swaps to support the bailout effort. By comparison, Freddie Mac’s request for another $8.4 billion looks pretty small, but they are all symptoms of the same disease. Let’s call the disease bailoutitis. It is not… Read more

April non-farm jobs rose by 290 thousand, greater than the consensus estimate of 200 thousand. This was an improvement over 230 thousand in March and 39 thousand in February, which were revised up from original press releases. At this rate of job improvement, year-on-year job growth will become positive in July, a welcome event indeed.… Read more

Recent data releases show that inflation remains well contained. In fact, by one key measure, inflation is at a historical low, causing increasing concern about deflation. From the March Consumer Price Index press release we see that first quarter overall price levels have grown about 2.3 percent from 2009 quarter 1. This measure includes energy… Read more