Daily Economy
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Services-Sector Activity Picks Up in July
“Services-sector expansion continued in July. Ongoing labor and materials shortages and intense price pressures are still concerns, as are emerging signs of softening demand and a weakening economy.” ~ Robert Hughes
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Unit Auto Sales Rose for a Second Consecutive Month but Remain Weak
“Light-vehicle sales rose again in July but remain well below pre-pandemic ranges. Inventory shows signs of stabilization recently, but prices continued to rise.” ~ Robert Hughes
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Proposing a Hank Williams Jr. Economic Misery Index
“Another problem is that the misery indices, like definitions of recession and stagflation, focus on unemployment to the exclusion of real wages. But real wage declines are painful, and not fully captured by inflation alone.” ~ Robert E. Wright
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Fit to Print? UNC’s Settlement with Nikole Hannah-Jones is Bad News
“It turns out the $75,000 wasn’t quite enough. As part of her settlement, she somehow managed to secure a bunch of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) sinecures for 20 university administrators.” ~ Phillip W. Magness & James R. Harrigan
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Private-Sector Job Openings and Quits Fall for a Third Consecutive Month
“Private-sector job openings and quits fell for a third consecutive month in June, adding to the evidence of a weakening economy. The outlook remains highly uncertain.” ~ Robert Hughes
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July Manufacturing-Sector Survey Points to Slowing
“The latest manufacturing survey suggests continued expansion but easing price pressures and uncertainty about the future. Persistently elevated price increases and an intensifying Fed policy tightening cycle remain risks to the outlook.” ~ Robert Hughes
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Price Ceilings of $0
“Whatever particular objections might be raised to legalization of the likes of prostitution or the selling of transplantable body organs, clarity of thought is enhanced by recognizing that the prohibitions in question are really price ceilings of $0.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
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Price Controls Hurt Patients, Risk Future Innovation
“If price controls are put in place on new medications, research and development funds will dry up, manufacturers will cease creating new medications, and the hopes of patients seeking new treatments and cures will not exist.” ~ Courtney Quinn
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Biden Borrows the Nixon Playbook on Recessions
“The White House’s definitional wordsmithing could not overcome the onset of worsening economic realities in 1974, and its frequent appeals to the NBER determination could not run down the clock against a prolonged recession.” ~ Phillip W. Magness
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A Way Out
“What’s remarkable is that a plan that makes retirees better off, makes the government better off, and shuts down Social Security without cutting benefits to existing retirees or raising payroll taxes on existing workers would be possible at all.” ~ Antony Davies
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•
Services-Sector Activity Picks Up in July
“Services-sector expansion continued in July. Ongoing labor and materials shortages and intense price pressures are still concerns, as are emerging signs of softening demand and a weakening economy.” ~ Robert Hughes
-
•
Unit Auto Sales Rose for a Second Consecutive Month but Remain Weak
“Light-vehicle sales rose again in July but remain well below pre-pandemic ranges. Inventory shows signs of stabilization recently, but prices continued to rise.” ~ Robert Hughes
-
•
Proposing a Hank Williams Jr. Economic Misery Index
“Another problem is that the misery indices, like definitions of recession and stagflation, focus on unemployment to the exclusion of real wages. But real wage declines are painful, and not fully captured by inflation alone.” ~ Robert E. Wright
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•
Fit to Print? UNC’s Settlement with Nikole Hannah-Jones is Bad News
“It turns out the $75,000 wasn’t quite enough. As part of her settlement, she somehow managed to secure a bunch of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) sinecures for 20 university administrators.” ~ Phillip W. Magness & James R. Harrigan
-
•
Private-Sector Job Openings and Quits Fall for a Third Consecutive Month
“Private-sector job openings and quits fell for a third consecutive month in June, adding to the evidence of a weakening economy. The outlook remains highly uncertain.” ~ Robert Hughes
-
•
July Manufacturing-Sector Survey Points to Slowing
“The latest manufacturing survey suggests continued expansion but easing price pressures and uncertainty about the future. Persistently elevated price increases and an intensifying Fed policy tightening cycle remain risks to the outlook.” ~ Robert Hughes
-
•
Price Ceilings of $0
“Whatever particular objections might be raised to legalization of the likes of prostitution or the selling of transplantable body organs, clarity of thought is enhanced by recognizing that the prohibitions in question are really price ceilings of $0.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
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•
Price Controls Hurt Patients, Risk Future Innovation
“If price controls are put in place on new medications, research and development funds will dry up, manufacturers will cease creating new medications, and the hopes of patients seeking new treatments and cures will not exist.” ~ Courtney Quinn
-
•
Biden Borrows the Nixon Playbook on Recessions
“The White House’s definitional wordsmithing could not overcome the onset of worsening economic realities in 1974, and its frequent appeals to the NBER determination could not run down the clock against a prolonged recession.” ~ Phillip W. Magness
-
•
A Way Out
“What’s remarkable is that a plan that makes retirees better off, makes the government better off, and shuts down Social Security without cutting benefits to existing retirees or raising payroll taxes on existing workers would be possible at all.” ~ Antony Davies