Job numbers and revisions are bad.
Job numbers and revisions are bad.
Only healthcare is showing job growth.
People are leaving the labor market.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMnbLMrqECg
Tag: economy
Why do 90% of economists oppose rent control? Money & Macro
Economists on the left and right agree that rent controls are bad.
Rent controls lower rent for those currently in rent controlled apartments. But, they: lower the supply of apartments, decrease mobility because no one wants to move if they have an apartment because it will be difficult to find another one, increase rent in nearby areas, and decrease how well the apartments are maintained. Rent controls help a small group of people and hurt everyone else.
The solution is building more housing, although that is easier said than done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoT76zITRx8
Why Private Credit Got Entangled With Insurance | Odd Lots
Private credit is supposed to be people taking risks with business ideas and investments, and if it doesn’t work out, they pay the piper. But, Private equity is using insurance companies to take advantage of laws meant to bail out insurance companies to make it so the public is still on the hook for their risky investments. If the investments go well, private equity keeps those gains, if the investments go poorly, they offload the losses on an unwilling public.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UdWViZgGHk
WSJ Piece About Socialism in the Nordics
The CATO Institute’s index that people use to say how capitalist Norse countries are includes mostly things that have nothing to do with distinguishing capitalism from modern democratic socialism.
Even looking at the economic freedom indicator, only four percent of it is looking at the state’s ownership of assets, which is core to what socialism is.
Yet, this is used again and again to say how capitalist these countries are.
In the US, the state owns around 4% of total national wealth, for Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway, this is: 11.2%; 24.1%; 31.7%; and 57%.
There are many different types of Socialism. Just determining that a country isn’t a fully topped down planned economy, doesn’t mean it’s not Socialist.
Low-wage workers in the US pay HIGHER taxes than the Nordic countries if you count healthcare premiums as taxes. Healthcare premiums come right from your paycheck and go a bureaucracy that pays for healthcare. It’s the same in the US as Nordic countries, except in the US it goes to a private company and in Nordic countries, it goes to the government. In both cases. health insurance is provided…except out of pocket costs are also lower in the Nordic countries.
If you need a family plan, then the US average wage worker also pays more!
The focus on taxes is silly. What matters is what are the cost burdens on Americans. Whether it is a tax from government or a healthcare premium from an insurance company, it’s a burden! Only looking at taxes is highly misleading, especially when taxes are instead of a premium, so when you look at the US, you ignore the cost of that premium.
That the US is a larger country, means we have more economies of scale, meaning it should be easier for us to provide healthcare for its people. We don’t do it based on ideology.
The problem with childcare fraud in Minneapolis wasn’t simply a problem with Somalis, but with private companies providing government services while being paid by the taxpayer. That wouldn’t have happened if the government did it itself.
The Nordic countries have universal welfare states and high levels of state ownership. They are examples of more successful “socialist” policies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4He0ceUFvI
Germany’s China Problem: What Can Europe Do About It?
China is screwing Europe economically. The US could have worked with Europe to counter China’s cheating, instead, Trump declared economic war on everyone at once, and bowed to China because China was too strong for Trump to take on alone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d3dZojivjI
A Lawyer’s (and Trump’s) Theory of Trade
Trump thinks a trade deficit means the US lost. This is false. Americans agreeing to buy goods from another country is a win for both sides.
Trade enlarges the pie, creating more total goods than we’d have without it. Consumers count too, and they benefit by buying foreign products, so do companies using foreign inputs to create goods and services in America.
The US needs to maintain its ability to produce military necessities, but the administration’s approach is to treat deficits generally as a lost. They broadly attack bilateral deficits without a sensible strategy–this hurts most people.
Lower prices aren’t necessarily “cheap”. They mean more. You can buy more; American businesses can produce more.
A lot of manufacturing jobs aren’t even good jobs anymore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYsdgsiyQO0
The bond market is declaring Trump’s policies bad for the long-run economic health of the US economy.
The bond market is declaring Trump’s policies bad for the long-run economic health of the US economy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZAjCcDVNRw
AI could trigger a layoff trap that even smart CEOs can’t escape
“”The main question we wanted to understand is who’s going to be left to buy products if everyone gets automated and replaced by a robot?” Tsoukalas, a senior fellow at Wharton, told journalist Katty Kay on the New Normal podcast that was posted on Monday.
The paper describes a classic economic dilemma: A single company may recognize that laying off too many workers reduces demand for its products, but in a competitive market, every company has an incentive to automate, because failing to do so risks losing to rivals.”
https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/ai-could-trigger-layoff-trap-081101725.html
Good News on Inflation — With a Very Big Asterisk
The US has the highest inflation of the G7.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVpb3IAZs6U
What economists get wrong about government debt | Prof. Steve Keen
What economists get wrong about government debt | Prof. Steve Keen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXSPAfOFl2k