-
WHAT A WEEK! Jobs, Macroeconomics, Markets and More
Instead of instant comment on the jobs report alone, today we offer a compendium of observations on this tumultuous week. The jobs picture: Today’s report happily smoothed out the trailing three months to an average of 72,000 new jobs per month. It was welcome, albeit that we are tracking at less than half the 150,000 [...]
-
On CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on the Day the Music Died – Sorry, Was it Something I Said?
-
The Speech Obama Should Have Given Tonight (courtesy of Andrew Shephard)
OK, Mr. President – apparently your cabinet and advisors aren’t able to tell you how to rise to a challenge and give a real partisan barnburner of a speech. Or perhaps you just don’t understand how to speak to the American people when you want to go over the heads of the opposition in Congress. [...]
-
Reuters Insider Video – Next Crisis in Residential Mortgages
Click for Video
-
The U.S., Europe and China – a summary of my macro views
I was recently asked to lay out my assessments on the economies of the United States, Europe and China – in short form – for a televised panel discussion I will be taking part in this week. It occurred to me that I might share my thoughts with readers of Two Cents: United States The [...]
-
Waging War on Wages: The Global Game of Supply Glut
We have written for years on the subject of the worldwide glut of labor and capacity relative to aggregate global demand. You are likely sick of hearing from us on the subject. But do read on – or if you are short on time, skip to our newest graphs at the end. Last Friday’s U.S. [...]
-
Commodity Speculation, Monetary Policy and “Temporary Inflation”
I am no particular fan or regular reader of zerohedge.com. I prefer to engage in debate under my own name than to fire off polemics under a pseudonym (especially those referencing the movie “Fight Club,” despite the latter’s status as a modern day cultural icon). And, really, does a blog need its own “manifesto?” But [...]
-
Case Shiller: The Selling Season Didn’t Vanish (sort of)
Today’s Case Shiller results for April indicate that, as we suspected, the spring residential selling season didn’t vanish completely (albeit the worst economic news came in May and June, so we’ll have to wait and see). On a non-seasonally unadjusted basis, the S&P Case Shiller 20-City index was up 0.7%. Normally, we only pay attention [...]
-
The Next Crisis in Residential Mortgages – New Data Emerges
Back in the fall of last year, we commented to many that the so-called “foreclosure-gate,” or “document-gate” (remember, the Schwarzeneggerian term “robo-signers”) was going to prove to be a double edged sword for the large banks. On the one hand, lying to judges and facing the possible voiding of mortgage collateral documents and the ability [...]
-
UPDATE: Retail Sales and Consumer Credit
Back in November of last year, we began to publish a data series that has been reasonably predictive of retail sales performance by correlating retail sales growth data with consumer credit expansion and contraction. We use a trailing 3-month, seasonally adjusted, rate of change in both aggregate consumer credit and retail sales, to chart what [...]
Most Read | Featured | Popular
Blogger Spotlight
Thomas Grennes
Thoughts From Across the Atlantic
Thomas Grennes is a professor of economics at the North Carolina State University and a former visiting faculty member at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga. His research has dealt with various aspects of international economics, including open economy macroeconomics, international finance, and international trade in agricultural products. Recent research topics have included macroeconomic aspects of the Great Moderation, offshore outsourcing, sovereign wealth funds, and the relationship between government debt and economic growth. Earlier work dealt with emerging market issues in the Baltic countries and Russia and trade and macro policies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Economic history topics include the Columbian Exchange of plants and animals, the effects on food markets of introducing mechanical refrigeration, and the integration of Tsarist Russia into the world grain market. When he is not involved in economics, he enjoys mountain hiking.
Economics Blog Aggregator
Our favorite economics blogs aggregated.
- A Roubini Global Economics Project
- Contact / About Us