Category Archives: Economic fundamentals

Wolf Richter: Why the Heck Is the Trucking Business Slowing Down?

Trucking activity is a long-standing leading indicator of economic activity. It’s been flashing red in recent months.

Is the Push for Greater European Integration a Mistake?

The assumption among policy elites that more European integration will heal the union’s ills may be misguided.

Wolf Richter: How Soaring Housing Costs Impoverish a Whole Generation and Maul the Real Economy

Housing costs are beyond the reach of many middle class earners. And while that is no news, housing has been the engine of past recoveries. So inflated home prices are part of why the economy will stay mired in low growth.

Greece Authorizes €750 Million Payment to IMF Despite Failing to Get Concession Sought [Updated]

Today, Greece blinked. But one unconfirmed report suggests the government got some eyewash.

Greece Finally Threatens Default as Deal with Creditors Remains Remote

A Greek default looms, but what does that mean for Greece and its creditors?

Greece Says It Will Make IMF Payment Next Week As Stalemate Continues

Greece may succeed in avoiding a default next week, but it remains at loggerheads with its creditors.

The Foreclosure Crisis Caused a Great Migration in Miniature

Several commentators picked up on the relationship between the events in Baltimore and the dearth of economic opportunity that leads to a sense of hopelessness. But precious few added the component of the foreclosure crisis, a dislocating event that has few parallels in American history. A new paper in the American Sociological Review by Matthew Hall (Cornell), Kyle Crowder (University of Washington) and Amy Spring (Georgia State) puts numbers to this, and shows that we really had a small-scale version of the Great Migration, the shift of African-Americans from the rural south to the big cities of the north. This migration hollowed out and segregated African-American and Latino communities to an even greater degree than where they already were.

Wolf Richter: “Smart Money” Prepares to Profit from Bond Market Rout

“If I had an easy way and a non-risk way of shorting a whole lot of 20- or 30-year bonds, I’d do it,” said our favorite uncle Warren Buffett on CNBC. These kinds of bonds have been on a terrific bull run ever since Paul Volker, as Chairman of the Fed, cracked down on inflation. But now, even the avuncular face of capitalism would bet against them.