What do Russia and California have in common?
Two Pictures and Prospects for the Dollar
The dollar weakens. Why? For how long? Against Whom?
Watching housing slide
The Census Bureau
yesterday released August data for housing permits and new housing starts, both of which confirm that we are in the midst of a significant housing downturn.
Current Account Release for 2006q2
According to the BEA current account release (discussed by Bloomberg here) for the second quarter, net asset-based income on a Balance of Payments basis has been negative for the past three quarters.
Productivity and Compensation
A close-up picture
Steady as she goes
Some analysts, convinced a catastrophe is looming, are starting to jump at shadows. But this week’s numbers do not give me much cause for alarm.
Measuring the U.S.-China trade balance
Some complications
Gasoline prices will fall even more
At the start of this month, I joined others in predicting that U.S. gasoline prices would soon be below $2.50 a gallon. The price has already dropped 20 cents to $2.60 a gallon since then, and it now appears likely to go down at least another 30 cents from here.
The July 2006 Trade Release
How surprising?
“Job Creation Continues: More than 5.7 Million Jobs Created Since August 2003” — White House
Following up on Floyd Norris’s article on how slow employment growth has been during the current expansion, as well as numerous other comments on the Web, I examine other dimensions of labor market performance.