Submitted by Econbrowser
9:40 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Secretary, thank you very much for coming by today to talk about the economic situation — we’ll be meeting later on this afternoon with the President’s Task Force on Financial Markets.

First of all, the Secretary has given me an update. One thing is for certain — we’re in […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

The chart above was created using the Forbes annual rankings of world billionaires (data are available here, here, here, here and here). In 2008, for the first time in history, the percentage of the richest 100 world billionaires in emerging markets (37%) is greater than the percentage in the U.S. (32%).
Visit 1800blogger […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

Watch an amazing video of the 235 pound Boston Dynamics Big Dog robot, as it navigates hills, ice, snow, rocks, a pile of cement blocks, and even a dude trying to kick it over, etc. The quadruped robot can carry 340 pounds. Freaky!!
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
 
From the Mortgage Bankers Association latest report on Delinquencies and Foreclosures:
“Of significance is that the rate reset issue on adjustable rate mortgages is becoming less of an issue. The 6-month LIBOR rate, the index rate used for many subprime ARMs, has come down around 2.5 percentage points since last September, greatly reducing […]

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Submitted by The Capital Spectator
The Bear Stearns fire sale over the weekend is just the latest example of how cycles impart pain as well as pleasure. Pain for all those shareholders who shunned diversification and pleasure (of a kind) for JPMorgan Chase, which has bought Bear Stearns for the equivalent of $2 a share, a […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
While government’s role in health care has expanded — one out of two health care dollars is now spent by the government — health care has become more expensive, less efficient, and less accessible. Health insurance premiums have nearly doubled since 2000 while inflation grew at 18% and wages grew by 20%. […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

Federal Reserve–Industrial production fell 0.5% in February after having increased 0.1% in January. Much of the decrease in February resulted from a weather-related drop of 3.7% in the output of utilities. In the manufacturing sector, output decreased 0.2% in February, and declines were fairly widespread across industries. The output of mines moved […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

In modern times, business and government have occupied increasingly separate spheres in Western economies - separation that has laid the groundwork for their economic ascendancy. By the end of the 20th century, many economists and political scientists assumed there was no other path to growth. The modern record of state-controlled business, by […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
Effective Sunday, April 27, 2008, for trade date April 28, 2008, the CME Group will launch Nonfarm Payroll (NFP) futures and options on futures to coincide with the release of the NFP economic date on Friday, May 2.
These plain vanilla contracts are based on the monthly U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

James Pethokoukis, at US News & World Report writes, “I know we are supposed to be in a recession since Warren Buffett said so, but the data refuse to fully cooperate”:
Sign #1: Jobless claims remain stubbornly low. Initial claims in the week ending March 8 were unchanged at 353,000, while the four-week […]

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