April 2016

Sessions, not Ryan, Would be the Sensible Pick of a Brokered Convention

I have long believed that there is a global power elite that manipulates the political process to its advantage. This strikes me as a “no duh” assertion. What separates me from some of my more conspiratorial brethren, is that I don’t believe this power elite is omnipotent. They cannot foresee or control for every contingency. The success of Donald Trump’s campaign is one such contingency they didn’t foresee, and the rather ham-handed way they have responded to it demonstrates that the conspiracy is not all powerful.

February Trade Data Points to Some Bad Signs

The U.S. February 2016 monthly trade deficit increased 2.6% from last month and now stands at -$47.1 billion.  America still runs a surplus in services, now at $17.7 billion, but the goods deficit is still massive and this month was -$64.7 billion.  The U.S. trade deficit hasn't been this high since August 2015.

Unemployment Report Shows Signs of Life in Labor Participation Rate

The March 2016 unemployment report shows some interesting movements.  The official unemployment rate ticked up 0.1 percentage points to 5.0% yet this is actually good news as more people came out of the woodwork and participated in the labor force.  The labor force grew by almost 400 thousand and those employed shot up by another 246 thousand.

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