Instapopulist

Personal Income Rises 0.3% in August; Spending Increases 0.5% While Prices Fall

Other than the employment report, the report on Personal Income and Outlays for August from the Bureau of Economic Analysis was probably the most important economic release of this past week, as this is the report that gives us the monthly data on our personal consumption expenditures (PCE), which is nearly 69% of GDP, as well as the important monthly personal income data, total personal savings and the national savings rate, in addition to the price index for PCE,

Deconstructing the Minimum Wage Debate (version 2)

Minimum wage debates are back in vogue. Unfortunately, these discussions instead of reflecting a possible fix for America's economic woes are indicative of the key theoretical failure which permeates nearly all schools of economics. On one hand we find the modern Quantity Theory of Money (QTM) theorists equipped with their models of barter (general equilibrium theory) built on instantly and infinitely flexible wage and price price assumptions.

August CPI Down 0.2% on Cheaper Gasoline

Consumer prices fell for the first time in 16 months in August as lower gasoline prices pulled the energy index and overall prices lower; moreover, core prices were flat, the first time since October 2010 that the core price index did not increase..  The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for August from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that seasonally adjusted prices fell by 0.2% after rising only 0.1% in July..  The unadjusted CPI-U, which was set with prices of the 1982 to 1984 period equal to 100,

The Boys' Club: How Men Ruin Everything

Back in those golden days of yesteryear, universities had this very quaint and charming notion that their purpose was to fill the minds of young people with knowledge. They provided a brief refuge from the tumult of the everyday world, so students could acquire an intellectual foundation that would enlighten the rest of their lives.

Somebody has really, REALLY messed things up, and I think you know who you are, gentlemen.

Foreclosure Starts and 90 Day Defaults Rise Again in July, Average Time in Foreclosure Now at 1001 Days

According to the Mortgage Monitor for July (pdf) from Black Knight Financial Services (BKFS, formerly the LPS Data & Analytics division), 935,460 home mortgages, or 1.85% of all mortgages outstanding, remained in the foreclosure process at the end of July, which was down from 951,384, or 1.91% of all active loans that were in foreclosure at the end of June, and down from 2.82% of all mortgages in July of last year.  These are homeowners who had a foreclosure not

How the University HealthSystems Consortium uses Big Data and subtle blackmail to add a hidden, secretive layer of complexity to an already bloated industry

Consorting with the Consortium and its Big Data devilry

INTRO: The jargon used to sell the Consortium’s products sounds like a satire of “The Office,” which itself is a satire. The Consortium promises to provide “interoperable workflow solutions“ in its “robust array of resources and tools.” Everything, it seems, is part of a “suite” that is comprehensive, exclusive, benchmarked, trademarked, high-impact and integrated. It promises a sheen of order, ease and rationality to institutions that are “at the crest of the wave,” facing “The Threat of Incrementalism.”

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