Econbrowser reader Manfred, in responding to my critique of the late Mr. Limbaugh’s use (or non-use) of statistics, writes of me:
…you had access to schools that many others in the US do not…
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Economists Stereotypes
Econbrowser reader sammy claims:
1) Economists have limited exposure to the real world
2) Economists extrapolate off last period statistics, which are much more imprecise than they acknowledge
3) Economists are ideological and can torture statistics to reach the desired outcome
Long-lived Negative Consequences of Steel Tariffs
(not in 2018, but in 2002-03):
DNI: “Updated Assessment on Covid-19 Origins
From the declassified (10/29) report (noted in this LA Times article):
Nowcasts and Nowcasts, on the Eve of the Q3 Release
ZeroHedge breathlessly announces “Atlanta Fed Says US Economy Suddenly On Verge Of Contraction”. The title is numerically correct, and the article actually provides more context than usual. However, for perspective, I think it’s of interest to see what other organizations are nowcasting.
IMF: “Recovery During a Pandemic”
The IMF’s October 2021 World Economic Outlook forecasts are out.
Measured Inflation in August
A CNN headline notes “A key measure of inflation surged to a new 30-year high”, with that key inflation measure being the year-on-year (y/y) personal consumption expenditure (PCE) inflation, very similar to a headline a month ago. But in any case, by focusing on the y/y rate, they missed the main message In today’s release — that month-on-month (m/m) annualized PCE inflation was down from March peak, from 7% to 4% (and roughly the same as in July). Moreover, the core counterpart was also down from the April peak, from 7.7% to 4.1% (3.6% y/y hitting the Bloomberg consensus on the nose, and a little higher than m/m consensus.)
Wisconsin’s Labor Markets in August
Employment numbers for August were released yesterday. Nonfarm payroll employment fell, and is undershooting the July 2021 Economic Forecast:
More on the China Slowdown
From BBVA (Jinyue Dong & Le Xia) today, discussing August data: “China | Worse-than-expected growth deceleration exposed the vulnerability of its anti-virus strategy”:
Wisconsin Monthly Economic Update
From the Wisconsin Department of Revenue – September issue. The regular publication of Economic Forecast reports (latest here) and the innovation of monthly updates contrasts strongly with the near economic news blackout in the second Scott Walker administration (discussed here). DoR has also added a lot more data visualizations, here.