Analysis Topic: Economic Trends Analysis
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Friday, October 02, 2015
A Worrying Set Of Recession Signals / Economics / Recession 2015
By: John_Mauldin
By John Mauldin
There is presently a bull market in complacency. There are very few alarm bells going off anywhere; and frankly, in reaction to my own personal complacency, I have my antenna up for whatever it is I might be missing that would indicate an approaching recession.
It was very easy to call the last two recessions well in advance because we had inverted yield curves. In the US at least, that phenomenon has a perfect track record of predicting recessions. The problem now is that, with the Federal Reserve holding the short end of the curve at the zero bound, there is no way we can get an inverted yield curve, come hell or high water. For the record, inverted yield curves do not cause recessions, they simply indicate that something is seriously out of whack with the economy. Typically, a recession shows up three to four quarters later.
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Friday, October 02, 2015
The Reality Behind the Numbers in China’s Boom-Bust Economy / Economics / China Economy
By: MISES
Yonathan Amselem writes: Last year, the world was stunned by an IMF report which found the Chinese economy larger and more productive than that of the United States, both in terms of raw GDP and purchasing power parity (PPP). The Chinese people created more goods and had more purchasing power with which to obtain them — a classic sign of prosperity. At the same time, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite more than doubled in value since October of 2014. This explosion in growth was accompanied by a post-recession construction boom that rivals anything the world has ever seen. In fact, in the three years from 2011 – 2013, the Chinese economy consumed more cement than the United States had in the entire twentieth century. Across the political spectrum, the narrative for the last fifteen years has been that of a rising Chinese hyperpower to rival American economic and cultural influence around the globe. China’s state-led “red capitalism” was a model to be admired and even emulated.
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Friday, October 02, 2015
Deflation: It's Been a Stealth Move / Economics / Deflation
By: EWI
Elliott Wave International's European Financial Forecast Editor discusses deflation
In this new interview, Elliott Wave International's Brian Whitmer explains the indirect connection between Europe's volatility and deflation. Find out how Brian's advising his subscribers prepare for deflation.
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Monday, September 28, 2015
Economic Channels of Distress - Fourth Turning Crisis of Trust / Economics / US Economy
By: James_Quinn
In Part 1 of this article I discussed the catalyst spark which ignited this Fourth Turning and the seemingly delayed regeneracy. In Part 2 I pondered possible Grey Champion prophet generation leaders who could arise during the regeneracy. In Part 3 I will focus on the economic channel of distress which is likely to be the primary driving force in the next phase of this Crisis.
There are very few people left on this earth who lived through the last Fourth Turning (1929 - 1946). The passing of older generations is a key component in the recurring cycles which propel the world through the seemingly chaotic episodes that paint portraits on the canvas of history. The current alignment of generations is driving this Crisis and will continue to give impetus to the future direction of this Fourth Turning. The alignment during a Fourth Turning is always the same: Old Artists (Silent) die, Prophets (Boomers) enter elderhood, Nomads (Gen X) enter midlife, Heroes (Millennials) enter young adulthood -- and a new generation of child Artists (Gen Y) is born. This is an era in which America's institutional life is torn down and rebuilt from the ground up -- always in response to a perceived threat to the nation's very survival.
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Friday, September 18, 2015
U.S. Economy Future Expectations Made Six Months Ago vs. Today's Reality / Economics / US Economy
By: Mike_Shedlock
On Thursday, I noted Bloomberg's comment "Something Very Wrong" with the manufacturing sector.
More completely, Bloomberg stated "There may very well be something wrong with the manufacturing sector, at least in the Northeast where the Empire State index has been in deep negative ground for the last two months followed now by a minus 6.0 headline for the Philly Fed index."
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Thursday, September 17, 2015
Syria's Economy Not Shaken by ISIS / Economics / Syria
By: Steve_H_Hanke
The fog of war has removed any sense of certainty regarding developments on the Syrian battlefield. That said, we know that ISIS has captured several towns, and that waves of Syrian refugees are disembarking upon Europe's shores. But, the picture remains chaotic and hazy.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Empire Fed, Retail Sales, Industrial Production All Miss / Economics / US Economy
By: Ashraf_Laidi
A trifecta of misses in today's US economic releases may not be a game-changer in Thursday's Fed decision because the game is already "unchanged". The September Empire Fed survey posted another double digit decline to remain at 6-year lows, August retail sales rose 0.3% to miss expectations for the sixth consecutive month and industrial production fell 0.4% in August to post seven declines over the past eight months--the worst pattern since 2008-9.
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Monday, September 14, 2015
No Recession, But… / Economics / Recession 2015
By: Gary_Tanashian
I am personally not yet convinced an ultimate bull market top is in despite the obvious similarities of the recent interim top to 2007 [the first sign in this regard would be a loss of the October 2014 and August 2015 lows]. It could also be a 1998 clone, as we have noted by chart similarities and by global financial similarities (China/Asia). However, in 2007 the stock market did a good job of forecasting the coming “Great Recession” (a sanitized way of saying ‘impulsive unwinding of leverage’). Here is what economists think today (ref. Bloomberg article): http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-11/here-s-when-economists-expect-to-see-the-next-u-s-recession. 2018 it is, according to a majority of buttoned down dart throwers.
Monday, September 14, 2015
U.S. Unemployment Rate - A Dirty Game of Numbers / Economics / Economic Statistics
By: Chris_Vermeulen
The newest addition of the Bureau of lies’ newest falsified and manipulated document about the employment figures is now out, available for viewing of the ignorant masses. The makers of the report will make sure that they drum it up for the whole world to hear, so that their plans of treachery and deceit stay well on course. Even the mature financial minds at Wall Street will accept it, because they are always in search of positive news to help their financial interests in the market.
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Friday, September 11, 2015
China's Market Meltdown: Dangers and Opportunities / Economics / Demographics
By: John_Mauldin
The buzz around Mauldin Economics’ virtual water cooler these days is El Jefe’s new documentary, China on the Edge. The timing for the online release, September 23, is propitious given the media attention to the meltdown of the Chinese market. The list of participants is impressive, and John has spent considerable time over the last few years wrapping his brain around the staggering number of variables at play in the People’s Republic of China.
Wednesday, September 09, 2015
Job Quit Rates and Recessions / Economics / Recession 2015
By: Mike_Shedlock
Looking for Greener Pastures?
A Chicago Fed report investigates Job Switching and Wage Growth.
Read full article... Read full article...People generally switch jobs by quitting (rather than losing) their previous job. Furthermore, the vast majority of people observed quitting their job tend to move directly to a new job, rather than becoming unemployed or exiting the labor force. Therefore, estimates of worker quits provide a good measure of job switching in the U.S. economy.
Tuesday, September 08, 2015
Abenomics Stalls, So What’s Japan Supposed To Do Now? / Economics / Japan Economy
By: John_Rubino
It was just three years ago that new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised to pull Japan out of its “lost decades” by printing epic amounts of new yen. He got what he wanted from the Bank of Japan, which bought up pretty much all the available government debt with newly-created currency. After hardly changing at all in the previous seven years, the BoJ’s balance sheet — a proxy for its money creation — tripled.
Monday, September 07, 2015
U.S. Real Wealth Weaker than GDP Stats Show / Economics / Economic Statistics
By: Frank_Shostak
US real gross domestic product (GDP) grew faster than initially thought in Q2. GDP expanded at a 3.7 percent annual rate instead of the 2.3 percent rate reported last month and 0.6 percent in Q1. Most experts, in response to this figure, are now arguing that the US economy is strengthening visibly.
This, coupled with a relatively stable price level, raises the likelihood that the economy is approaching the path of healthy economic growth with stable price inflation.
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Sunday, September 06, 2015
The Failed Moral Argument for a "Living Wage" / Economics / Wages
By: MISES
Ryan McMaken writes: With Labor Day upon us, newspapers across the US will be printing op-eds calling for a mandated “living wage” and higher wages in general. In many cases, advocates for a living wage argue for outright mandates on wages; that is, a minimum wage set as an arbitrary level determined by policymakers to be at a level that makes housing, food, and health care “affordable.”
Saturday, September 05, 2015
Establishment Survey +173K Jobs, Private Jobs +140,000; U.S. Unemployment Rate 5.1% / Economics / Employment
By: Mike_Shedlock
The establishment survey came in a weaker than expected 173,000 job. The Bloomberg Consensus estimate was 223,000 jobs.
However, the preceding two months were revised up by 44,000 and wages were strong. Bloomberg provides a nice summation of the strengths and weaknesses.
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Friday, September 04, 2015
Bye Bye Brazil Economy / Economics / Brazil
By: John_Rubino
For about a decade there, Brazil was the Latin American country that got it right. Under a socialist but apparently reasonable government they kept their budgets under control, managed the population shift from farm to city, and developed some efficient export industries that brought in plenty of hard currency. The Brazilian real held its own on foreign exchange markets and inflation was, as a result, moderate.
Then it all fell apart. The US dollar spiked, commodity prices tanked, and it was discovered that a whole range of big local players were gaming the system in various ways, sparking a corruption scandal that reaches all the way to top.
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Tuesday, September 01, 2015
Weapons of Economic Destruction / Economics / Economic Theory
By: John_Mauldin
“Measurement theory shows that strong assumptions are required for certain statistics to provide meaningful information about reality. Measurement theory encourages people to think about the meaning of their data. It encourages critical assessment of the assumptions behind the analysis.
Tuesday, September 01, 2015
Last Week’s Top News Had Nothing to Do With the Stock Market / Economics / US Economy
By: ...
Here’s the news: The U.S. Commerce Department sharply revised upward its second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) estimate. The agency now says the value of all goods and services in the nation for the second quarter grew at a seasonally adjusted 3.7% – that’s 61% higher than its earlier forecast.
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Friday, August 28, 2015
U.S. Economic Fundamentals 'Look Good' - Bullard of St. Louis Fed / Economics / US Economy
By: Bloomberg
St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard spoke with Bloomberg's Brendan Greeley, Michael McKee and Tom Keene from the Jackson Hole economic symposium. He spoke about the outlook for monetary policy, the U.S. economy and recent market volatility.
Bullard said that while world financial markets are volatile, U.S. fundamentals are good: "I'm not denying it's a volatile period. But let me say this. U.S. fundamentals look good….The key question for the committee, and no decisions have been made here, but the key question for the committee is would you want to change the outlook based on the volatility that we've seen over the last 10 days? And I think the answer is going to be not very much."
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Why Devaluing the Yuan Won't Help China's Economy / Economics / China Economy
By: Frank_Shostak
Earlier this month, the Chinese government decided to depreciate its currency on three consecutive occasions. On August 13, the price of the US dollar was trading at 6.413 — an increase of 3.3 percent against July. The key factor behind the central bank’s lowering of the yuan is a sharp decline in the growth momentum of exports with the yearly rate of growth falling to minus 8.3 percent in July from 2.8 percent in June.