Submitted by Businomics Blog
The Conference Board reported their latest survey of consumer confidence, and it’s no surprise that their results mirrored the gloomy report issued last week by the University of Michigan:
 

What does consumer gloom mean for the economic forecast?  Let’s look at some history:

Two obvious conclusions:

Growth of retail spending tends to correlate with attitudes, […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

Check out the World Clock here, to view updated statistics on world births, deaths, traffic accidents, abortions, marriages, divorces, U.S. prison population, cars produced, fires, etc.

If you click on “Day,” you’ll get today’s stats, if you click on “Now,” it will re-set all values to zero.

Thanks to Grant “Big Daddy” Leonard […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
MIT Researchers Point to Potential Economy-boosting Technologies (link)
As the economy appears to falter and as more Americans fear that the country is on the wrong track, here’s something to keep in mind: There is hope on the horizon.

History is filled with examples of how technology helped usher in new eras of prosperity. […]

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Submitted by Econbrowser
More outstanding analysis from Calculated Risk.

CR gives us this scatter diagram fit to data from 1994:Q1 to 2007:Q4. The horizontal axis plots the inventory of existing homes for sale on the market, while the vertical axis gives the quarterly change in the nominal Case-Shiller National Home Price index. The strong negative correlation in […]

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Submitted by The Capital Spectator
Commodities may or may not be in a bubble, which leaves strategic-minded investors grasping (and gasping) for context.
The media is flush these days with the “B” word, including today’s Wall Street Journal, which advises: High Oil Prices Spur Thoughts About Bubbles, But This Might Be Misguided Meanwhile, earlier this month, Lehman […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
Interesting post here about Sweden from Lane Kenworth, Professor of Sociology, University of Arizona:

Surprises for the Left about Sweden:
1. Strong work ethos
2. Embrace of globalization
3. School choice
4. Partially privatized pensions

Surprises for the Right about Sweden:
1. Competitive economy
2. High degree of mobility (income and wealth)
3. Poor are well-off
4. Heterogeneous population
Visit 1800blogger to see […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

Puzzle: Why are Amazon gift certificates selling for more than their face value on Ebay?? For example the Ebay auction above shows a $280.13 Amazon.com gift certificate, with 9 bids, a high bid of $294, and more than 5 days to go until the auction ends?

Check out more examples here, here, here […]

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