I’ve updated the “regression camp” membership list. Assuming no recession shows up (hear Cam Harvey talk about the issue), what can we take from the Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index returning to recession territory (it’s spent much of the last 18 months there):
What Kind of Macro Model is the Heritage Foundation Using?
From Heritage:
“At least 3,000 North Korean soldiers now inside Russia, US says”
Headline from CNN.
New Paper: No, We Haven’t Been in a Recession since 2022
Downloadable here.
Nonsensical Graphs that People Post
Item 1:
Why So Glum? Structural Break in Michigan Sentiment?
Ryan Cummings and Ernie Tedeschi have a very interesting article in BriefingBook today which casts new light on the disjuncture between measured sentiment and conventional macroeconomic indicators. Cummings and Tedeschi document how the move to online sampling has altered the characteristics of the University of Michigan Economic Sentiment series.
Nick Lardy on China’s Rise and Economic Conflict with the US
This Thursday 4:30 CT at UW:
CatholicVote: “Two economists reported that after adjusting government statistics to more accurately measure inflation, it became clear that the country has been in a recession for the past two years under the Biden-Harris administration”
That’s the title of this article.
Has GDP Growth Been Faster under Biden vs. than under Trump? Answer: Yes
I keep on hearing people like House Speaker Mike Johnson saying how growth under Trump was the fastest. Well, just comparing against the last three and a half years, I wonder how this can be true. Using the latest available BEA data:
Federal Interest Payments: To the Public vs. To the Rest-of-Federal Government
Ode to an EJ Antoni graph (apologies to Keats). Total interest payments have risen substantially, and this shows up in a scary picture: