This year, the federal government expects to take in about $4.9 trillion in fiscal year 2023, compared with last year’s $4.8 trillion. You could make the case that, allowing for inflation, government revenues are actually going down, but be careful who you try to make that case to. If it’s to the American taxpayer who’s […]
Last month, the human population of the Earth surpassed 8 billion. These people all need food, shelter, clothing and – no joke – cell phones. More than 9 out of 10 people worldwide have these devices. Can the Earth’s bounty sustain such a census? Can demand keep up with supply? Yes, probably, but it’s going […]
How in the world did we manage positive GDP Growth for Q3? Aren’t we supposed to be moving closer and closer to a recession—if not in one already? And if the first two quarters were negative but Q3 is now positive, does that mean we are out of the woods? These are frequent questions I […]
It has happened before. In fact, it’s happened more than once. Wars that start in Ukraine have a way of not ending there. History, they say, doesn’t repeat itself, but sometimes it rhymes. The first stanza of “Let’s Conquer Ukraine Then Go on To Wreak Havoc on a Continental Scale” dates back to the year […]
Mortgage rates are spiking, so people are putting off buying a house. Those who already own their four walls are staying put because they know they’ll never get better loan terms than they have right now. In the meantime, household formations are exceeding housing starts by about 2,000 units every 12 months. That’s actually nothing […]
Type “definition of” into your Google search field and see what autocomplete prompts you get. Your algorithm may vary, but when we did it just now, “narcissist” was high on the list and “insanity” was even higher. But the top prompt was “recession”. Yet so many of us throw around this term without knowing what […]
Inflation arises from an environment where the number of dollars and credit outpace the goods and services available. In its simplest form, there are two ways to combat inflation, curb spending or expand supply. The Fed utilizes monetary tools in an attempt to increase or lower demand to balance the disparity between Supply/Demand. The biggest […]
It used to be so simple and predictable: The economy grows. People prosper. They buy homes. Housing prices spike and inflation works its way through the economy. The Federal Reserve raises the fed funds rate – the rate big banks charge each other for overnight holds – thus the banks have to raise mortgage rates. […]
With the heavy stream of reminders that inflation is at historic highs, and suggestions that the economy is on the verge of collapsing from one day to the next—it can be difficult to focus on our future goals and feel any sense of security about our own finances. The reality is, however, that expert economists […]
It’s hard times in the air right now. In fact, the airline industry’s stock index is down by one-third over the past 12 months. That’s hard to take, considering that the broader market is down around 13% over the same time. This shouldn’t be the case. After all, the Department of Transportation has documented that […]
