Is Breakfast Now a Luxury Item?
With the wholesale prices of orange juice and coffee increasing by 20 percent and 41 percent respectively just over the past six months, it’s not surprising to see the reflection in...
Economic Commentary
Chrysler Loses Money, Pays Bonuses Anyway
On Sunday, millions of Super Bowl fans will most likely ignore the huge investment Chrysler is making in television ads in promoting its new 2011 models. Those ads are part of...
American Jobs Market in Peril
Forecasts made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that the 2000s would yield nearly 22 million net jobs have been proven false by the financial crises plaguing the decade. Likewise, assertions...
Myth: The Sky Will Fall if the Debt Ceiling Isn’t Raised
At this moment the national debt, according to the U.S. National Debt Clock, is at $14.094 trillion and increasing by $4 billion every day. With the current ceiling on the U.S....
S&P Downgrades Japan: Harbinger for US
Standard and Poor’s gave plenty of reasons for its downgrade of Japan’s credit rating yesterday such as increasing annual deficits and soaring national debt, an aging population, shrinking workforce, and a...
Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Report: Classic Misdirection
After nearly two years of investigation, reviewing millions of documents and conducting hundreds of interviews, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) released its report today, pinning the blame for the Great...
Housing Double-dip Is Here: Case-Shiller
One of the most-watched and highly regarded indices giving direction to the housing market is the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index published every month. Its latest report, announced on Tuesday, provides the...
Would Higher Taxes Help Cash-Strapped States?
The dire economic straits of the nation have prompted progressives to call for increased taxes, a measure they believe can help offset the deficits at the state and national level. However,...
Is the Housing Market Beginning to Clear?
The conflicting news reports on the housing market can give the casual observer a headache: “December Sales of U.S. Existing Homes Jump to 7-Month High,” shouts Bloomberg. “Housing Starts Decline, [but]...
Tax Group Urges Halt to Wasteful Military Jet Engine Project
A citizens' taxpayer watchdog group is urging President Obama and the Department of Defense to halt funding on the manufacture of an aircraft engine that would replace the Pratt and Whitney...
Banks Still Suffering
Keeping in mind that the “beige book” report from the Federal Reserve yesterday is only a compilation of anecdotal reports from businesses across the country, any conclusions in that report that...
Food Prices Paving Way for Social Unrest
As world food prices continue to approach crisis levels, and global demand continues to increase, one international organization, The World Economic Forum, warns of possible “social and political instability.” In particular, the...
Paul Volcker: Insights From an Insider
With the announcement by Reuters that former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker was going to resign shortly from the Obama administration came the temptation to reminisce about Volcker’s influence during the...
Tracing the Japanese Experiment
The United States' current corporate tax rate is far from competitive. Average combined state and federal corporate taxes are 39.2 percent, second highest among industrialized nations, just under Japan's 39.5...
Housing Prices to Fall Further
When Bloomberg polled so-called real estate “experts” about the housing market, they expected a slight pull-back in housing prices of perhaps 0.2 percent when compared to a year ago. Instead, the...