Category Archives: Economics

Consumer expenditures by homeowners and renters – BLS

Posted on October 25, 2012 by macromon

Good piece by the BLS of the average annual expenditures of renters and homeowners. In 2010, people who rented their residences paid more, on average, in annual rent ($8,798) than homeowners reported paying in mortgage interest and charges ($8,202). In … Continue reading →

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Japan’s September Exports Down 10.3% Y/Y

Posted on October 22, 2012 by macromon

Great data from Japan’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) showing the sharp drop in exports to each of the country’s major trading partners. TOKYO — Japan’s trade deficit widened in September as exports plunged 10.3 percent from a year earlier, weighed … Continue reading →

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Italy Car Sales Down 25.7% in September

Posted on October 16, 2012 by macromon

Italians are getting back on their bicycles….for the first time sense WWII the number of bicycles sold in Italy has over taken the number of cars…. (click here if video is not observable)

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Nobel Prize in Economics

Posted on October 15, 2012 by macromon

Alvin E. Roth and Lloyd S. Shapley shared the 2012 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their work on matching supply and demand for everything from single men and women to organ donors and their recipients… Shapley, 89, designed theoretical … Continue reading →

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The Next Stimulus: More Holidays?

Posted on October 13, 2012 by macromon

Interesting take from Fareed that holidays can generate more consumer spending and the U.S. takes the least amount of holidays among the global community. This brings up an interesting story about how FDR,  in 1939,  changed the Thanksgiving holiday from … Continue reading →

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Eurozone PMI Composite Output Index at 45.9, 39-month low

Posted on September 20, 2012 by macromon

Markit reported this morning, The Markit Eurozone PMI® Composite Output Index fell from 46.3 in August to 45.9 in September, according to the preliminary ‘flash’ reading, based on around 85% of usual monthly replies. The index therefore signalled that the … Continue reading →

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Punk real earnings in the U.S.

Posted on September 19, 2012 by macromon

The BLS reports, Real average hourly earnings for all employees fell 0.7 percent from July to August, seasonally adjusted. This decline resulted from unchanged average hourly earnings combined with a 0.6-percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban … Continue reading →

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Tedtalks: The Informal/Underground Economy

Posted on September 8, 2012 by macromon

Fascinating lecture on the world’s informal/underground economy.  Thanks to Mark Perry at Daily Markets for bringing it to our attention. Robert Neuwirth spent four years among the chaotic stalls of street markets, talking to pushcart hawkers and gray marketers, to … Continue reading →

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Draghi Speaks, Markets Go Berserk

Posted on September 6, 2012 by macromon

The potential disappointments were there in Draghi’s OMT policy announcement.   The markets didn’t care, however, as the perceived tail risk of sovereign default was taken off the table as was a Euro banking collapse circumvented by the LTROs. Central bankers … Continue reading →

Posted in Banking, ECB, Economics, Euro, Eurozone Sovereign Spreads, Monetary Policy | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Northern Europe Most Competitive

Posted on September 5, 2012 by macromon

(click here if video is not observable)

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