Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
Every year, the American Time Use Survey asks thousands of Americans to record a minute-by-minute account of one single day. For many “prime-age” adults, those between the ages of 25 and 54, a significant chunk of time on weekdays is taken up by work. But for the almost 30 million prime-age Americans who don’t work,…
The Economist’s recent list of the 25 most influential economists did not include a single woman. Many male former central bankers and regional Federal Reserve Bank governors were included on the list, but the Economist gave itself a special rule to exclude active central bankers, which meant that Janet Yellen—arguably the world’s most influential economist—didn’t make the list. University…
Wolf Richter www.wolfstreet.com www.amazon.com/author/wolfrichter The price of oil continues to crash relentlessly. WTI trades at $49.80 as I’m writing this Monday evening, down 5.5% for the day, and down 54% since June 2014. The oil-price plunge is eating into the American oil boom, munching on income statements and balance sheets of drillers that have gorged…
main NEW YORK (CNNMoney) New York City is getting even more unaffordable. The average sales price for a Manhattan apartment rose to a new record of $1,728,831 million in the fourth quarter, up from $1,700,581 in the first three months of the year, according to Halstead Property. Halstead is one of New York City’s big…
Markit’s US Services PMI missed expectations of 53.7, priting at 53.3, its lowest since Feb 2014 (mid Polar Vortex). From record highs in June, PMI has plunged non-stop for six months leaving Markit noting Q4 growth is looking more like 2.0% than the 5.0% exuberance in Q3. US Services PMI plunges… and along with…
For the 4th month in a row, US Factory Orders have fallen MoM. November’s 0.7% drop is worse than the 0.5% decline expected and leads to the biggest yearly drop since March 2013. Capital Goods New Orders tumbled 0.8% as did non-defense capital goods shipments (down 0.9%). Having risen for 3 months, November saw a…
It was less than a week ago when Zero Hedge broke the news that for CNBC, 2014 Was The Worst. Year. Ever. Much to the embarrassment of CNBC, its staunch defender David Rosenberg, and not to mention its advertisers who realized they overspent substantially for the reach they were promised and received instead, the report…
I’ve given a lot of thought to this as I’ve pondered what happened to me and why, because in some ways Mayer does have a point: learning to say no is an important part of professional growth (also personal, but that’s another article). Would I have flamed out quite as spectacularly if I’d made sure…
Today’s jobs report, while overall very strong, showed a slight tick down in the labor force participation rate, from 62.8% last month to 62.7% this month. It’s now at the lowest rate since 1978. Why the participation rate has fallen so much is one of the most hotly debated questions in economics. On the one…
Medicaid, the nation’s public health insurance program for low-income people, covers health and long-term care services for over 66 million Americans. Medicaid beneficiaries include many children, working families, low-income elderly, and individuals with disabilities. To participate in Medicaid, states are required to meet federal core requirements; however, states have significant flexibility to expand beyond program…