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basic economics

The Simple Economics of What Really Matters

By |2018-06-18T17:45:29-04:00June 18th, 2018|Markets|

The very idea of a labor shortage is supposed to be strictly an economic concept. No longer. It is now wielded almost exclusively in political terms. Anecdotes about how companies are unable to find workers pepper most commentary on the labor market if only because there is no (none) direct statistical evidence that a nationwide labor problem exists. In the [...]

Proving The ‘L’ In Labor

By |2018-06-06T12:15:56-04:00June 6th, 2018|Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

Back in 2011 and 2012, apple growers in the state of Washington got the government there to declare an emergency. They were expecting a record or near-record crop of fruit but they just couldn’t find enough workers to harvest it all. Faced with a potentially devastating labor shortage, Washington’s governor turned to convicts. I wrote about it in 2013 and [...]

The Basic Economics of Smaller Economy

By |2015-05-18T13:17:48-04:00May 18th, 2015|Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

Since hitting it most recent low in mid-March, spot WTI has rebounded about 40% reaching above $61/barrel at one point. The ultimate low, which brought the physical price down under $43, was on the morning of March 18. The FOMC statement later that afternoon has been taken as a removal of any close threat to ZIRP, taking enormous pressure off the [...]

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