As an economist, my job is not to help you make health decisions about Covid vaccines. Your health history, age, subjective evaluation of risk, and many other factors make recommendations from me meaningless. I can, however, increase your awareness of distortions that lead to poor decision-making. I’m not talking about the most apparent distortion—mandates. Mandates […]
The Magic Number in 2018 was around 4.8%. In 2006, it was around 6%. But with today’s super-inflated home prices? Here are the signs. The average weekly contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances rose to 4.06 percent for the week ended February 18, the second week in a row above […]
https://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/percent-homes.jpg333518Wolf Richterhttps://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/logo_2023.pngWolf Richter2022-02-24 21:14:412022-02-24 21:18:56Is 4% the “Magic Number” for Mortgage Rates to Prick the Housing Market (and Stocks)?
The Biden administration altered the official federal policy on approving new interstate natural gas facilities and pipelines, requiring a climate consideration. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced that it will begin to “undertake a robust consideration” of the environmental justice impacts of such fossil fuel projects before granting approval, according to a fact sheet published […]
A shockingly large price bubble appears to have formed in the real estate market. Although it’s impossible to predict economic crashes with certainty, a key economic indicator suggests the U.S. housing market is on the verge of an unprecedented crash, one that could end up being the biggest in America’s history. Following the 2008 stock […]
https://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/home-for-sale.jpg339509Justin Hakinshttps://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/logo_2023.pngJustin Hakins2022-02-23 02:00:052022-02-21 23:10:48Key Indicator Hints America Is Headed For Its Worst Real Estate Crash In History
Greenhouse gas emissions have surged in multiple Northeast states that shuttered nuclear power plants since 2019, Politico reported. The states — Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania — closed down the zero-emissions nuclear reactors in recent years, even as they announced ambitious pledges to transition away from fossil fuels, according to Politico. Since 2019, carbon dioxide […]
https://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/nuclear-power-plant-4535760__480-1.jpg480720Thomas Catenaccihttps://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/logo_2023.pngThomas Catenacci2022-02-23 01:55:202022-02-22 05:57:28Emissions Increased In States That Closed Nuclear Plant
It could be a coincidence—or it could foretell a historic Supreme Court term. The Court has now accepted two cases for this term that could threaten the essential legal underpinnings of the federal administrative state. The first is American Hospital Association v. Becerra, in which the plaintiff questions the Chevron doctrine—a rule fashioned by the Supreme Court itself in […]
The numbers are already baked in and will show up over the next 24 months. Two rent factors account for 32% of the Consumer Price Index. Despite the massive spike in “asking rents” across the US, those two CPI rent factors have been much lower than CPI and have thereby repressed CPI so far. Unlike […]
https://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/money-house.jpg337508Wolf Richterhttps://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/logo_2023.pngWolf Richter2022-02-21 02:00:152022-02-18 07:23:38When Will the Brutal Spike in Rents Drive Up CPI Inflation? How Much Will it Add to CPI?
Chief Justice John Marshall’s observation, “[t]hat the power to tax involves the power to destroy,” has become part of American political lore. Marshall understood that the state’s revenue-extracting power can be weaponized—even against those who have committed no crime. We are now seeing a corollary to that notion in finance, with fossil fuel companies as […]
In 2018, Ross Douthat of the New York Times introduced the phrase “woke capital.” Essentially, Douthat suggested that woke capitalism works by substituting symbolic value for economic value. Under woke capitalism, corporations offer workers rhetorical placebos in lieu of costlier economic concessions, such as higher wages and better benefits. The same gestures of wokeness also appease the liberal […]
https://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/blackrock.jpg339509Michael Rectenwaldhttps://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/logo_2023.pngMichael Rectenwald2022-02-15 01:50:242022-02-13 12:06:21Woke Capitalism Is a Monopoly Game
Inflation burns out of control, but the Fed is still pouring fuel on it. You can no longer just blame supply chains. This is far bigger. OK, the Fed and American consumers and wage earners have, excuse the technical jargon here, a serious-ass problem on their hands that has just gotten worse. The broadest Consumer […]
https://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/iStock-939248364-scaled.jpg17072560Wolf Richterhttps://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/logo_2023.pngWolf Richter2022-02-14 02:05:102022-02-14 08:46:44WHOOSH Goes the Dollar’s Purchasing Power in January as Inflation Now Infests Services
What An Economist Knows About Crony Vaccines
/in Economy, Featured, Liberty, Politics/by Barry BrownsteinAs an economist, my job is not to help you make health decisions about Covid vaccines. Your health history, age, subjective evaluation of risk, and many other factors make recommendations from me meaningless. I can, however, increase your awareness of distortions that lead to poor decision-making. I’m not talking about the most apparent distortion—mandates. Mandates […]
Is 4% the “Magic Number” for Mortgage Rates to Prick the Housing Market (and Stocks)?
/in Economy, Featured, Politics/by Wolf RichterThe Magic Number in 2018 was around 4.8%. In 2006, it was around 6%. But with today’s super-inflated home prices? Here are the signs. The average weekly contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances rose to 4.06 percent for the week ended February 18, the second week in a row above […]
Biden Administration Adds Climate Roadblocks to Future Pipelines, Energy Projects
/in Economy, Environment, Featured, National Security, Politics/by Thomas CatenacciThe Biden administration altered the official federal policy on approving new interstate natural gas facilities and pipelines, requiring a climate consideration. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced that it will begin to “undertake a robust consideration” of the environmental justice impacts of such fossil fuel projects before granting approval, according to a fact sheet published […]
Key Indicator Hints America Is Headed For Its Worst Real Estate Crash In History
/in Economy, Featured, Politics/by Justin HakinsA shockingly large price bubble appears to have formed in the real estate market. Although it’s impossible to predict economic crashes with certainty, a key economic indicator suggests the U.S. housing market is on the verge of an unprecedented crash, one that could end up being the biggest in America’s history. Following the 2008 stock […]
Emissions Increased In States That Closed Nuclear Plant
/in Economy, Environment, Featured, National Security, Politics/by Thomas CatenacciGreenhouse gas emissions have surged in multiple Northeast states that shuttered nuclear power plants since 2019, Politico reported. The states — Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania — closed down the zero-emissions nuclear reactors in recent years, even as they announced ambitious pledges to transition away from fossil fuels, according to Politico. Since 2019, carbon dioxide […]
The Supreme Court Confronts the Administrative State
/in Economy, Environment, Featured, Liberty, Politics/by Peter WallisonIt could be a coincidence—or it could foretell a historic Supreme Court term. The Court has now accepted two cases for this term that could threaten the essential legal underpinnings of the federal administrative state. The first is American Hospital Association v. Becerra, in which the plaintiff questions the Chevron doctrine—a rule fashioned by the Supreme Court itself in […]
When Will the Brutal Spike in Rents Drive Up CPI Inflation? How Much Will it Add to CPI?
/in Economy, Featured, Politics/by Wolf RichterThe numbers are already baked in and will show up over the next 24 months. Two rent factors account for 32% of the Consumer Price Index. Despite the massive spike in “asking rents” across the US, those two CPI rent factors have been much lower than CPI and have thereby repressed CPI so far. Unlike […]
Climate Tyrants’ New Tactics
/in Culture War, Economy, Environment, Featured, Liberty, Politics/by Richard MorrisonChief Justice John Marshall’s observation, “[t]hat the power to tax involves the power to destroy,” has become part of American political lore. Marshall understood that the state’s revenue-extracting power can be weaponized—even against those who have committed no crime. We are now seeing a corollary to that notion in finance, with fossil fuel companies as […]
Woke Capitalism Is a Monopoly Game
/in Culture War, Economy, Featured, Liberty/by Michael RectenwaldIn 2018, Ross Douthat of the New York Times introduced the phrase “woke capital.” Essentially, Douthat suggested that woke capitalism works by substituting symbolic value for economic value. Under woke capitalism, corporations offer workers rhetorical placebos in lieu of costlier economic concessions, such as higher wages and better benefits. The same gestures of wokeness also appease the liberal […]
WHOOSH Goes the Dollar’s Purchasing Power in January as Inflation Now Infests Services
/in Economy, Featured, Liberty, Politics/by Wolf RichterInflation burns out of control, but the Fed is still pouring fuel on it. You can no longer just blame supply chains. This is far bigger. OK, the Fed and American consumers and wage earners have, excuse the technical jargon here, a serious-ass problem on their hands that has just gotten worse. The broadest Consumer […]