Economy
January 16, 2020
2010-11: Aftershocks of the Great Recession The best way to see how much can change in a decade is to remember how things were at the end of the last one. In 2010, we were coming off the worst decade for stocks since the 1930s. The Great Recession had devastated the retirement savings of millions of people. Many of the world’s most famous financial institutions had collapsed. And the national unemployment rate was near 10%.1 It was a scary and uncertain time. Many investors had fled the markets entirely by 2010, some for good. As a result, they missed a […]
October 17, 2019
Let’s say the USA could convince each billionaire in the world to give every penny of their wealth to the US Treasury. How long do you think we could run the US Government based on the Fiscal Year 2020 Budget? I had to do the math. According to Forbes’ 33rd Annual World’s Billionaires Issue, there are 2,153 billionaires in the world. In total, they have a combined worth of $8.7 trillion dollars(1). The US Federal Budget for 2020 is $4.74 trillion. (2) $8.7 trillion divided by $4.74 trillion translates that we could only run the United States for 22 months! […]
September 2, 2019
Ah, Labor Day! Born in the United States out of the Industrial Revolution. The unofficial end of summer and beginning of fall. Three days to spend with friends and family, typically enjoying some good old-fashioned BBQ. But what are we recognizing? For many, the significance of Labor Day has been lost in time. At the end of the 1800s, the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks in order to barely make ends meet. Children, as young as 5 or 6, worked in mills, factories, and mines, to help their families survive, earning a fraction of their adult counterparts’. […]
April 14, 2018
If you just listen to all the hype about China. You’d be convinced they are going to take over the world. There’s so much talk today about their incredible growth rate and the power of their economy; we may forget just how good we are doing in the US. Yes, it is amazing how quickly the Chinese government has forced their growth pattern. They’ve literally flooded millions of people from their hometowns with the Three Gorges project and forced them to move to the city. They are relocating 250 million people, according to a NY Times report, from the countryside to the city, […]
April 11, 2018
Every Monday, we receive an email from Brian Wesbury and his Economics team at First Trust. This week’s was especially interesting and I thought you would enjoy reading this as you start your New Year. Here’s to a prosperous 2017 for you and your family! Watch the Spending Brian S. Wesbury, Chief Economist Robert Stein, Deputy Chief Economist Date: 1/3/2017 President-elect Trump wants a Race Horse Economy, not a continuation of the Plow Horse we’ve had for the past several years. Out of all of his proposals, the one that should help the economy the most is corporate tax reform, […]