U.S. stock prices as measured by the S&P500 fell almost 7% last week. What’s going on?
Value of S&P500 index over last 3 months. Source: Google Finance.
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China’s economic slowdown
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Projecting 2015 Acres Burned and Firefighting Expenditures
Blue Creek fire, close to Walla Walla, WA. Photo: Greg Lehman, AP. Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Reader CoRev asserts wildfire intensity has not been severe of late. I’ll just graph some data to bring reality to the interested.
Remember: “Global warming is a total, and very expensive, hoax!”
So said Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump. Pay no heed to the massive wildfires. And temperature readings.
Here is a map of current fires in the US (see here for Canada):
Source: NOAA.
Wisconsin NFP Employment Almost Reaches Prior Peak
Civilian employment falls to 1.3% below prior peak.
Wisconsin (Not) Outpacing Other States
Wisconsin is not outpacing its neighbors according to the Philadelphia Fed’s coincident indices meant to proxy economic activity; and, contrary to assertions [1], the lagging pace of Wisconsin is not apparently attributable to a milder downturn in Wisconsin.
Governor Walker on Who Should Be Considered an American
From Washington Post:
GOP presidential hopeful Scott Walker said Monday that children of illegal immigrants who are born in the United States should not automatically receive U.S. citizenship.
Guest Contribution: “Recent Experience with Monetary Sovereignty”
Today we are fortunate to have a guest contribution by Helen Popper, professor of economics at Santa Clara University.
Evaluating the Chinese Devaluation
The 2% devaluation of the Chinese yuan on Monday, and subsequent 1.6% weakening on Tuesday, was variously described as surprising and stunning. I think it was to be expected, given China’s slowing growth, although there was no particular reason to believe Monday would be the day. In evaluating the effects, one has to first place the drop in context.
Guest Contribution: “Gas Taxes and Oil Subsidies: Time for Reform”
Today we are fortunate to have a guest contribution written by Jeffrey Frankel, Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth at Harvard University, and former Member of the Council of Economic Advisers, 1997-99. A shorter version was published at Project Syndicate.
Kansas: The Macro Outlook
The politics of the The Kansas Experiment were recounted in Sunday’s NYT Magazine. Does the economic crash continue?