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The debt ceiling was raised in December and the Treasury responded immediately, adding $709 billion in debt over the month. To be fair, $470 billion of this was non-marketable, as shown below. Note: Non-Marketable consists almost entirely of debt the government owes to itself (e.g., debt owed to Social Security or public retirement)
Labor market productivity has been dropping for decades. And you can trace the plunge back to the demise of the gold standard. US labor market productivity plummeted in the third quarter of 2021. Revisions to the data showed a 5.2% drop in productivity, even worse than the dismal initial reading last month. It was the […]
In October, retail sales surged much higher than expected, rising 1.7%. The mainstream gushed over retail spending, asserting that it was a sign that the economy is booming. At the time, I argued that it wasn’t necessarily good news. Well, the news just got even worse. Retail sales in November disappointed, despite another big surge […]
American consumers piled on more debt in October as inflation continues to squeeze their pocketbooks. Consumer debt grew by $16.9 billion, an annual increase of 4.6% (seasonally adjusted), according to the latest data released by the Federal Reserve. That raised total consumer debt to over $4.38 trillion.
It appears American consumers are going to have a red Christmas this year. Red — as in going deeper into debt.
Retail sales surged at a higher than expected rate in October, rising 1.7%. The mainstream reported this as fantastic news signaling a strong economy. American consumers are out there buying lots of stuff. The stock market rallied and gold fell. But the mainstream narrative isn’t giving you the full picture.
After all the drama, Congress finally did what everyone knew it would do. It raised the debt ceiling by $480 billion in October. The Treasury wasted no time and quickly added $480 billion to the national debt in the second half of the month. With this new debt tagged on, if the Fed has to […]
American consumers piled on more debt in September as higher prices squeezed wallets. Consumer credit grew by $29.9 billion in September, bringing the total to $4.37 trillion, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. The increase in consumer debt nearly doubled the consensus estimate of a $15.5 billion increase.
The September trade deficit smashed the record set just last June. September 2021 charted a total trade deficit of -$80.9 billion. That was up a massive 11.2% over the August trade deficit of -$72.8 billion and crushed the previous June record of -$73.2 billion by over 10.5%.
The Federal Reserve wrapped up its FOMC meeting on Wednesday and finally announced the much-anticipated QE taper. The Fed will cut its bond-buying program by about $15 billion a month. But so what? In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey digs into the Fed announcement and raises some very important questions.
