Submitted by CARPE DIEM

The 2008 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) started today in Detroit. From the NAIAS website:
More than 6,700 journalists from 62 countries and 42 United States attended the NAIAS 2007 Press Days. Almost 30% of media attendees were from outside the U.S. In addition to Europe and Asia, many media came from […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
To the students in the traditional MBA program at the University of Michigan, Flint campus, WELCOME TO CARPE DIEM. Please see the post below for a discussion that relates to Chapter 1 in the Gwartney textbook, and our discussion in class last Wednesday night!!
Carpe Diem,
Professor Perry
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
From “Economics: Public and Private Choice” by Gwartney, Stoup, Sobel and Macpherson:
Guidepost #6 to Economic Thinking: “Economic actions generate secondary effects in addition to immediate effects.”
Pitfall #2 to Avoid in Economic Thinking: “Good intentions do not guarantee desirable outcomes.”
Application/Case Study:
Fact 1: Due to Western pressure, Bangladesh outlawed work in garment factories for […]

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Submitted by EconWeekly
The welfare effects of bankruptcy legislation are not correctly understood. Policymakers and the general public think, for the most part, that laws that protect borrowers in the event of default are beneficial to consumers. In practice, however, those laws have negative effects on the households that need credit most — and, ironically, those […]

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Submitted by Econbrowser
Was 25, now we have 50. Do I hear 75?
In a widely noted speech, Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke on Thursday described the source of his current concerns about economic and financial stability:

Although poor underwriting and, in some cases, fraud and abusive practices contributed to the high rates of delinquency that we are […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the Housing Affordability Index in late 2007 was at the highest level since 2004 (see graph above), due to falling single-family home prices, rising median family incomes, and declining mortgage rates (see post below).
To interpret the Housing Affordability Index (HAI), a value of 100 […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

WASHINGTON — Freddie Mac said 30-year home fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.87% in the latest week — the lowest since September 2005. A week ago the average was 6.07%, and in the year-earlier period it was 6.21%. From the most recent peak of 6.73% in mid-July 2007, 30-year rates have fallen almost a […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

From the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM):
It’s official. With the trade data recently released by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. trade balance in manufactured goods with CAFTA (Central American and Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement), has registered a $2 billion trade surplus. This is a sharp reversal from the […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
A month ago, the Fed lowered rates by only a quarter of a percentage point instead of making the half-point cut that many were expecting. The Fed appears to have made a big mistake about oil and aggregate demand at the last rate-cut session — for several reasons.
First, the big drivers of […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

The chart above (click to enlarge) is from a Google trends search for the word “recession” - search volume is above, and news reference volume is below.
Singapore is the city in the world with the most searches for “recession” (as a percent of all searches) and Washington, D.C. is second.
Visit […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

The chart above shows annual bank failures from 1934-2007 using data from the FDIC. Several facts:
1. There have only been two years since 1934 when NO U.S. banks failed: 2005 and 2006.
2. Only 3 U.S. banks failed in 2007.
3. Besides the 2005-2007 period, there has never been another three-year period since […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

What Are the Top American-Made Cars?
Cars.com’s 2007 American-Made Index rates vehicles built and bought in the U.S. (see the top 10 in the chart above, click to enlarge). Factors include sales, where the car’s parts are made and whether the car is assembled in the U.S. Models with a domestic-parts content rating […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

According to Phoenix Marketing International, the number of millionaire households in the U.S. has almost doubled over the last five years, from 3.3 million in 2003 to almost 6 million millionaire households in 2007 (see chart above, click to enlarge). Over the same period, the percentage of U.S. millionaire households has […]

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