Consumer Confidence Surveys – As Of January 30, 2015

Doug Short had a blog post of January 30, 2015 (“Michigan Consumer Sentiment Remains at an Eleven-Year High“) in which he presents the latest Conference Board Consumer Confidence and Thomson/Reuters University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index charts.  They are presented below: (click on charts to enlarge images) – – There are a few aspects of the above …

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Durable Goods New Orders – Long-Term Charts Through December 2014

Many people place emphasis on Durable Goods New Orders as a prominent economic indicator and/or leading economic indicator. For reference, below are charts depicting this measure. First, from the St. Louis Fed site (FRED), a chart through December, updated on January 27, 2015.  This value is 230,525 ($ Millions) : (click on charts to enlarge …

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U.S. Deflation – January 27, 2015 Update

This post provides an update to various past posts discussing deflation and “deflationary pressures.”  I have extensively written of “deflationary pressures” and deflation as I continue to believe that U.S. deflationary conditions are on the horizon, and that such deflationary conditions will cause, as well as accompany, inordinate economic hardship. [note: to clarify, for purposes …

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Median Household Income Chart

I have written many blog posts concerning the worrisome trends in income and earnings. Doug Short, in his January 26, 2015 post titled “Real Median Household Income Rose a Significant 1.0% in December” produced the chart below.  It is based upon data from Sentier Research, and it shows both nominal and real median household incomes since 2000, …

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Money Supply Charts Through December 2014

For reference purposes, below are two sets of charts depicting growth in the money supply. The first shows the MZM (Money Zero Maturity), defined in FRED as the following: M2 less small-denomination time deposits plus institutional money funds. Money Zero Maturity is calculated by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Here is the “MZM …

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Disturbing Charts (Update 17)

I find the following charts to be disturbing.   These charts would be disturbing at any point in the economic cycle; that they (on average) depict such a tenuous situation now – 67 months after the official (as per the September 20, 2010 NBER BCDC announcement) June 2009 end of the recession – is especially notable. These …

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Average Hourly Earnings Trends

I have written many blog posts concerning the worrisome trends in income and earnings. Along these lines, one of the measures showing disconcerting trends is that of hourly earnings. While the concept of hourly earnings can be defined and measured in a variety of ways, below are a few charts that I believe broadly illustrate problematic …

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Financial Condition Of Many Americans

The financial condition of many Americans remains very disconcerting on many fronts, as seen in many statistics and empiricism. I have have written many posts on this widespread problematical financial condition, and many of these posts are seen in the “paycheck to paycheck” tag. One recent notable report on the financial conditions of Americans includes …

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