CERF Blog

The labor department released their monthly jobs report. Today’s release is a report on the employment situation in August. Payroll jobs rose by 96 thousand jobs, driven by private sector job growth of 103 thousand jobs. The private sector job growth was concentrated in services, particularly professional and business services, education and healthcare services, and… Read more

In a recent speech Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke1 spoke of the importance of financial education.  People commonly make financial mistakes such as saving too little, taking on too much debt, holding too little life insurance, making bad investment decisions and, in general, paying fees that are unnecessary.  The consequences of these mistakes can be… Read more

The Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) shows that median net worth for baby boomers (households with head of household aged 55-64 in 2010) was $179,000 in 2010, down from $226,000 in 2007.  The median is defined to be the lowest of the top 50% (or the greatest of the bottom 50%).  At first glance, it… Read more

Former Bain partner Edward Conard has published a controversial book “Unintended Consequences”1 in which he provides a positive case for income and wealth inequality and for market solutions to societal problems.  His story is an unabashed defense of market capitalism (and private equity).  A NYT reviewer has labeled the book “The Most Hated Book in… Read more

The BLS Employment Situation was released today, indicating a job increase that exceeded the expectations of the consensus forecast. This information is based on a survey of employers. The 163 thousand job increase over June contrasts with the Bloomberg median consensus of 100 thousand and our forecast of 80 thousand. It is the most rapid… Read more

The BEA released its “advance”, or first, estimate of second quarter GDP today, and it might not surprise anyone that the economy grew more slowly in the second quarter than in the first quarter. The question is: how much slower? The quarter 2 estimate is 1.5 percent, compared with a revised estimate of 2.0 percent… Read more

The London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) is an index (actually, there are 150 indexes covering 10 currencies and 15 maturities from 1 day to 1 year) that is reported daily by the British Bankers Association (BBA).  LIBOR settings are established each day as the result of a survey of a panel of large international banks. … Read more

A common refrain about economic policy and performance in the United States over the past thirty years is that inequality is rising and the middle class is disappearing.  The implication of the latter claim is that people are falling out of the middle class into the lower income class.  Of course, if you define “middle… Read more

This from a CNNMoney article: NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The International Monetary Fund said Monday that the global economy should continue to limp along at a modest pace, assuming leaders in Europe and the United States do not make things worse. In the latest update to its World Economic Outlook, the IMF said it expects… Read more

The Labor Department’s Jobs report came out this morning at an 80,000 job increase for June, an 84,000 gain for the private sector and a 4,000 loss for the public sector. We had forecast a 60,000 increase overall and a 70,000 increase for the private sector. The Unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.2 percent, the… Read more

Joe Mihalic is a recent graduate from the Harvard Business School (HBS) who managed to pay off $91,000 in student debt in seven months.  He is currently enjoying his fifteen minutes of fame because he documented the details of his journey in a blog.  His story is one of determination and commitment to a goal. … Read more

The Federal Reserve puts out two publications that address the level, change and composition of household net worth.  The most widely known is the Household Balance Sheet table in the quarterly Flow of Funds (FOF) report.  This report is released about two months after the end of a quarter.  The FOF for the first quarter… Read more

Tyler Cowen is a creative economist.  Here, he proposes a novel approach to Europe.  The key paragraph: Just to make the comparison biting, what if we postponed the costly benefits part of ACA for a year (it may be struck down anyway) and send $200 billion directly to Spain and its banks?  Is more money… Read more

The Obama Administration has seized upon a recent article in MarketWatch by Rex Nutting (here) that purports to show that federal spending growth under President Obama is the lowest of any Administration since Dwight D. Eisenhower.  Press Secretary Carney and the President have glommed onto this story with abandon, arguing that the President is, by… Read more

A major event in the financial markets last month was the initial public offering of FaceBook (ticker symbol FB).  Despite the subsequent decline in price, the financial press reported that this IPO “instantly” created many new millionaires and billionaires.  By doing so, the IPO has worsened economic inequality in the U.S.  This is because inequality… Read more