We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Open Records Laws (in Wisconsin)

Apparently, we don’t need taxes on tobacco products either! [And Republicans refuse to identify lawmaker behind measure restricting access to legislative records]

I guess William Cronon won’t have to worry any more about having his emails scoured by the Wisconsin GOP. From the Wisconsin State Journal:

Legislative Republicans on Thursday passed sweeping changes to the state’s open records law that would dramatically curtail the kind of information available to the public about the work that public officials do.

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The International Aspects of the Employment Release

The headline number for nonfarm payroll employment was decent [1], and although there are worrisome aspects, I think the key take-away is the fact that manufacturing employment is slowing much more than overall. To the extent that manufactured goods proxies for tradables, I think caution is in order with respect to monetary tightening. And yet, I read headlines reporting that the “Fed is on track to raise rates…”[Sparshott/RTE WSJ].

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“The Global Trade Slowdown: A New Normal?”

This is the title of a newly released VoxEU ebook, edited by Bernard Hoekman.

The post-Crisis decline in the growth rate of the ratio of global trade to GDP has been cause for some concern that global trade has peaked, and that we are now reaching a new normal in which trade levels will be weak in comparison to about a decade ago. Whether such a peak in trade was a defining moment in global trade or whether it is a cyclical phenomenon is one of the questions this eBook addresses.

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Wisconsin Downturn?

In Down, Down, Down, I noted Wisconsin’s three month downward trend in nonfarm payroll and private nonfarm payroll employment, and as I cautioned, even this level of employment would likely be further downward revised when the QCEW data were incorporated in the next benchmark. The household survey based data released by the BLS adds yet more confirmation of a decrease in employment (h/t GeoffT). Monday’s newly released Philadelphia Fed coincident indices reflect those labor market trends.

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