Submitted by Econbrowser
Plants do it. Why not you?

In principle it would be possible to combine carbon dioxide from the air with water to create hydrocarbons that could be used to power motor vehicles. Of course it takes energy to do this, so in effect you’re just taking another energy source (such as nuclear) and converting […]

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Submitted by EconWeekly
Recession talk decreased slightly again in April. According to an index which includes eight newspapers, each publication included an average of 1.96 articles per day using the word “recession,” down from 2.16 in March and significantly below the level of 3.70 in January (see chart 1). The decrease occurred in spite of the […]

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Submitted by A Dash of Insight
Developments in housing remain crucial for the economy and for stocks.  Nearly any account of the housing situation includes reports of the number of foreclosures, the inventory of empty homes, and the potential ARM re-sets that may stimulate even more foreclosure activity.
Any help for distressed homeowners would help to shift […]

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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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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
Special Carpe Diem Welcome to the Finance Students at the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, Romania, and UM-Flint Professor and Fulbright Scholar Dr. Seyed Mehdian.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
The chart above (click to enlarge) shows the growth rates (from a year ago) for the monetary base and M1 money supply since 2005. M1 has been flat with zero growth for more than 2 years, and the growth in the monetary base has been declining and is now approaching 0% […]

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Submitted by The Capital Spectator
The investment universe is filled with surprises, and perhaps the biggest shocker of all is the idea that the value strategies of Ben Graham and his disciples are in general agreement with modern portfolio theory (MPT).
Granted, it sounds absurd. MPT, after all, is the suite of financial theories that spawned index […]

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Submitted by Econbrowser
Via West Virginia Rebel, the Telegraph reports:

Sir Paul McCartney is said to be “horrified” that his new eco-friendly car was flown 7,000 miles from Japan.
The Lexus LS600H, which costs £ 84,000, was a gift from Lexus to the 65-year-old former Beatle, who helped promote the hybrid vehicle. But instead of arriving by boat […]

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Submitted by Econbrowser
Fed Chair Ben Bernanke on Tuesday offered his perspective on the appropriate response of the Fed to the ongoing turmoil in financial markets. I still think he’s overlooking a key element of what’s been happening.

Bernanke observed:
Meeting creditors’ demands for payment requires holding liquidity– cash, essentially, or close equivalents. But neither individual institutions, nor […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

WASHINGTON – U.S. consumer prices were under wraps last month, a government report showed, especially when food and energy prices were stripped out, further evidence that the economic slowdown is easing some of the inflationary effect of recent sharp gains in food and energy prices.
Consumer prices rose 3.9% on a year-over-year basis, […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
WSJ–We can’t wait to hear how Members of Congress explain their vote this week for the new $300 billion farm bill. At a time when Americans are squeezed at the grocery store, they will now see more of their taxes flow to the very farmers profiting from these high food prices.
Nearly every […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
With all the commotion in the media and in politics about the high price of gasoline, is there really some terribly complex explanation?
Is there anything complex about the fact that with two countries– India and China– having rapid economic growth, and with combined populations 8 times that of the United States, they […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
Money Magazine recently put out a city-by-city home price forecast, using data from Fiserv Lending Solutions, First American CoreLogic, city and county assessors, and realtors. The magazine determined that U.S. home prices will fall an average of 9.7%, see list above (click to enlarge).

Notice Detroit has the highest expected appreciation of 8.6% […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
NEW DELHI: Instead of blaming India and other developing nations for the rise in food prices, Americans should rethink their energy policy and go on a diet.
Americans eat an average of 3,770 calories per capita a day, the highest amount in the world, according to data from the UN Food and Agricultural […]

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Submitted by A Dash of Insight
Stocks can and do stray from valuations suggested by fundamental analysis.  Despite this, it never hurts to understand the economic background.  Understanding the economy helps to gauge earnings forecasts.  This is especially important for stocks with a cyclical character.
Here are some statements about economic data and the market.  For each […]

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Submitted by The Capital Spectator
Retail sales last month slipped a bit, the Census Bureau reports. But much of the decline came from the auto and related industries. Given the soft economic backdrop of late, it’s no wonder that consumers are reluctant to buy cars, which for most folks are the largest purchase after a house. […]

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Submitted by Businomics Blog
I’m staying at an Inn that’s part of a vineyard/winery/spa.  My room is luxurious, with a view you wouldn’t believe.  The food in the restaurant is top notch, and the wine excellent.  I’m enjoying myself, except for a nagging concern:  this joint don’t cash flow.
There is no way on God’s green earth […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
WSJ–Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported today a 6.9% rise in profit for its fiscal first quarter, helped by strong international sales and a tighter grip on inventories and markdowns.
International sales jumped 22%, pushing operating income up 16%. Wal-Mart’s expansions into international markets such as Brazil and China are yielding fruit, analysts have said, […]

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Submitted by Econbrowser
The March trade release was taken as good news. Here’s some reasons to wonder a bit more about how good the news was.

Figure 1: Current account balance (blue), net exports (red), and net exports ex-oil (green), as a ratio of GDP. NBER defined recessions shaded gray. Source: BEA GDP release of 30 April […]

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