Crude Conundrum With third-quarter growth clocking in at 5%… …might the fourth quarter see a boon due to this? West Texas Intermediate (WTI) might drop half in value in the last quarter of 2014. Brent is also sliding down a cliff: Good for all around, no? Well, everybody except Japan: Japanese annual core consumer inflation … Continue reading
Monthly Archives: December 2014
Merry $%^^&* Christmas
Well, who would have thought… American Airlines capped off the most successful year financially in its history by awarding most employees two days before Christmas with a 4% pay raise, on top of negotiated pay raises. But during a busy midday flurry of labor announcements at the world’s biggest airline, the jubilation was mitigated for … Continue reading
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas in an hour; hopefully no one will advocate greeting the Messiah with an entourage sporting biblical AR-15s. Continue reading
The Wrong Turn
The Strange Rise of Rational Expectations I’ve touched on several possible sources of stagflation in the past, but am still trying to wrap my head around the evidence I’ve uncovered that austerity has a long history triggering economic contractions and rises in the price level simultaneously. Austerity, in the form of VAT increases, hit Japan … Continue reading
In The Corner, Mumbling and Drooling 