Tag Archives: economy

04/17/21

The US Economy Is Going To Boom

Before the China Virus, the United States had the best economy in its history — since 1776 — and the strongest economy in the world. Then came the pandemic and we made some bad decisions. Economic growth declined — it contracted it — and the economy was essentially in TIME OUT.

Now we sit 15 months later with a myriad of vaccines and a steady shuffle toward herd immunity.

The whole Operation Warp Speed is a colossal success story that needs to be told. It is America at its best. Bravo and well played.

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12/20/19

The Economy, Darling

I am no fan of polls primarily because I find them to be statistical malpractice in the unscientific, haphazard manner with which the polling samples are constructed and the sponsorship.

There was a CNN poll on the economy completed a week ago that had some surprising outcomes.

76% of respondents agreed the “Economy is very or somewhat good.”

This is up from 67% last year.

97% of Republicans agree.

75% of Independents agree.

62% of Democrats agree, up from 47% in August. <<< this surprises me

The economy is the best economy since 1900 and the only reason that boundary exists is because we don’t have good numbers from before that date.

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12/6/19

The Numbers — The Trump Economy

It does not matter whether you love or hate President Trump, the economy is not influenced by your individual feelings or emotions.

Nancy Pelosi, who does not hate President Trump and who is a great Catholic, is praying for the economy and President Trump. [President Trump is praying for her also. The Big Red Car is praying for both of them though not at the same time.]

Here she is with that powerful pointer finger of hers. Looks great for 80, no?

The economy is impacted by policy coming out of Washington and since early 2017, that policy has been guided by President Trump.

Today, we learned that unemployment has dipped to the lowest level in half a century — 3.5%. The US created more than 266,000 jobs in November 2019. Hello, America!

This has to be the best labor market in a century.

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04/26/19

The Economy

Big Red Car here back from a nice tour of Savannah. Today, the numbers came out for Q1-2019. Gross Domestic Product is up 3.2%!

Image result for images savannah

[Special note to “you know who” — yes., the government fiscal year starts in October, so, yes, it would be Q2-2019 of the government year, but this is Q1-2019 of the CALENDAR YEAR 2019. The economic statistics are kept on a calendar year and it is not my fault or a conspiracy. OK?]

Folks were waiting for these numbers with baited breath because of the government shutdown of 35 days — 22 December 2018 until 25 January 2019. In addition, this impacted the first quarter, always the weakest quarter for economic activity.

This is a huge number, y’all.

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07/27/18

GDP Growth 4.1% – do not overreact

GDP, Big Red Car? Huh?

Big Red Car here on a lovely, warm Texas summer day – sun shining and headed to 101F. Ahhh, summer!

Something else which is hot is the economy. It is hot as evidenced by today’s GDP number which shows growth in excess of 4%. This is Q3 2018 (April, May, June 2018). US starts its fiscal year in October, but you knew that, right?

Couple this with low unemployment, high job growth, the beginning of real wage growth, increased capital spending, and some progress on the issue of trade and it is easy to see why the President was in the Rose Garden taking a victory lap.

When pressed to explain why growth has begun to accelerate, President Trump and his economic advisers pointed to reductions in regulations, the tax cuts, and the beginning of work on trade. They had a few other things, but those are the big ones.

The most important thing is that the White House is trying to create a fertile environment for growth. That is more important than many of the elements.

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05/12/16

Recovery? Won’t Get Fooled Again

Recovery. Talking recovery today.

Big Red Car here. I’m vexed. People think that the economy is doing fine or, worse, that it is headed in the right direction. It is not.

Let me tell you why. First, say: STRUCTURAL CHANGES to the ugly face of employment.

There are four things we need to look at: total unemployment, unemployment for 25-54 year olds, the Labor Force Participation Rate for the same 25-54 year olds, and Employment-to-Population ratio for the same 25-54 year olds.

So, the hypothesis of this post is this — while America has been engaged in the weakest recession recovery dynamic in the history of the United States, the job market and the structure of our employment force has changed STRUCTURALLY.

A historic example of something like this was the wholesale introduction of women into the work force in the early 1980s. It changed things. Forever.

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08/26/15

Let’s Cut the Crap — the Economy Sucks

Big Red Car here. Going to be a great day in the ATX, as usual. How many days until Longhorn football?

You do the math, dear reader. The Horns play Notre Dame in South Bend (Touchdown Jesus, y’all!) on 5 September. The game is on NBC and starts at 6:30 EST.

So, the economy? What is going on with the economy?

The economy is not good, y’all, but you wouldn’t know that if you listened to the folks in the White House who are spiking the ball and touting their success in growing the economy.

Let’s cut the crap about the economy and get into some facts. Continue reading →