Submitted by Econbrowser
From Macroeconomic Advisers, May 14:
Monthly GDP Index: March 2008
Monthly GDP rose 0.3% in March. This followed a 1.0% decline in February that was revised up from a 1.2% decline in last month’s report. The moderate increase in monthly GDP in March can largely be accounted for by positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures […]

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Submitted by Businomics Blog
The Survey of Professional Forecasters compiled by the Philadelphia Fed (more details here) shows another downward revision to the forecast.

The survey occurs quarterly, so we’re looking at early May forecasts compared to early February forecasts.
I like looking at the consensus economic forecast.  It tends to be more accurate than the projections of […]

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Submitted by Businomics Blog
The Wall Street Journal ran an ad headlined “Recession Proof.”  The ad was for franchising tax preparation services.  Seems reasonable, right?  Everyone has to file a tax return, even during a recession.  Well, it turns out that they don’t have to pay someone else to do it.  In the average recession, consumer […]

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Submitted by Econbrowser
The latest CPI release provided some much needed relief on the inflation front. What caught my eye was some of the discussion regarding the seasonal adjustment. This inspired me to wonder what seasonal adjustment was doing.

From Reuters, by Emily Kaiser:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - High gasoline prices got you down? Come to the land of […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
Chain stores have been disliked for decades, at both local and national levels. Taking advantage of economies of scale that lower their costs of doing business, chain stores are able to charge lower prices than smaller independent stores, and therefore attract customers away from their higher-cost competitors.

The economics of this is certainly […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
What a difference a century makes:

1888: America excites an admiration which must be felt upon the spot to be understood. The hopefulness of her people communicates itself to one who moves among them, and makes him perceive that the graver faults of politics may be far less dangerous there than they would […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
Just like with gas prices, we hear a lot about food prices being at record levels, but we don’t hear as much about disposable income also being at record high levels. How do food prices compare to disposable personal income?

According to data available from the USDA, expenditures on food as a […]

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