The four largest states are split on the direction people are moving. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the four largest states are California with 39.1 million residents, Texas with 27.5 million, Florida with 20.3 million and New York with 19.8 million. These four states are split evenly in terms of exporting or […]
Can we stop messing around and finally get serious about this economy? At the very least, the United States has suffered a lost nine years. More accurately, we’ve basically suffered a lost decade and a half with only a couple of years of solid growth over that period. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis recently […]
The Congressional Budget Office recently released its latest monthly budget review. Coupled with the CBO’s long-term budget outlook and historical numbers, let’s take a look at where the U.S. is on federal spending. Here are some key points to keep in mind: Spending up in 2015. Through the first 10 months of the 2015 fiscal […]
Since the start of this year, at least, much speculation has swirled about when the Federal Reserve would finally increase short-term interest rates. To paraphrase Shakespeare, it’s much ado about nothing. Actually, that would be a best-case assessment. The Federal Open Market Committee served up assorted points on the economy and monetary policy in its […]
Eight times a year, the Federal Reserve releases its “Beige Book,” an assessment of economic activity in each of its 12 districts based on anecdotal evidence. While the report helps Fed policymakers make decisions on monetary policy, the report also offers a tool for small businesses. So what does the latest report communicate to those […]
In his latest State of the Union address, President Barack Obama painted a rosy portrait of the United States economy. According to the president, the U.S. economy experienced a “breakthrough year” in 2014. Well, with fourth-quarter data out on gross domestic product, it turns out that 2014 was just another under-performing year in terms of […]
The latest read on economic growth in the United States was a clear positive during an economic recovery that’s grossly underperformed since it officially started in mid-2009. We won’t get a read on economic growth for the fourth quarter and all of 2014 until late January. But the most recent take on the third quarter […]
The political wave that hit American politics on election day must not go to waste when it comes to moving public policy in a different and productive direction. Perhaps the greatest opportunity to make a significant contribution to boosting our economy in the near term and over the long haul is comprehensive, pro-growth tax reform. […]
The topline story on real economic growth in the United States during the third quarter was a good one based on data released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Annualized, seasonally adjusted real gross domestic product grew by 3.5 percent in the third quarter. That came after 4.6 percent growth in the second quarter […]
Few economists doubt the benefits of expanding international trade. Since the days of classical economists like Adam Smith and David Ricardo in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the benefits of trade have been voiced quite clearly among economists, with only the most rare exceptions. To broadly sum up, eliminating or reducing such international […]