The Radford Free Press – Page 407 – All life is problem solving.

Economics / industrial production, inventories, ISM Business Conditions Index, manufacturing, productivity, unemployment, wages /

Manufacturing Keeps Growing

March 1, 2010

There are two points to make about manufacturing. First is today’s Institute of Supply Management report on manufacturing activity. The second is my take on an ongoing discussion at fivethirtyeight.com where a great post on the decline in US manufacturing has generated a great deal of discussion. First the ISM report. The index of manufacturing […]

Economics / consumer confidence, consumption, existing home sales, GDP, health care, heath care reform, stimulus /

Health Care Summit and Housing: Blather and Gloom

February 26, 2010

Not just a big snow storm provided gloom at the end of the week. The report on existing home sales was miserable, and even the revision upward to fourth quarter GDP failed to lift the mood; it simply confirmed that growth still depends on one time efforts and is not yet strongly sustainable. The National […]

Economics / durable goods orders, GDP, jobs, unemployment /

Orders and Jobs: Have We Hit A Wall?

February 25, 2010

Durable Goods Orders: On the surface this morning’s durable goods orders report is a good one: they rose 3.0% in January, which is a much better performance than most folks had expected. However, when we dig beneath the surface the story is reversed quite dramatically. If we exclude aircraft orders, which shot up over 15%, […]