Everyone knows the expression “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” My experience has been that you can substitute the word “always” for probably. There seems to be no shortage of hidden…
Common Cents Blog
Last Thursday, I spoke at a breakfast presentation on the economy during a conference for business leaders here in town. After more than 500 public speaking engagements in the past two+ decades, many here in the…
Traditionally, our office is swamped after Halloween with all the candy that our associates didn’t give away. Despite all appearances to the contrary, I don’t eat a lot of the stuff throughout the remainder of the…
This past Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) at the Federal Reserve cut the target overnight lending rate 25 basis points (0.25%). This was as everyone expected. However, Chairman Jay Powell gave investors a jolt…
On Friday, despite the continued Federal government shutdown, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September 2025. Although the report was over a week past due, it was “better late…
This past Thursday night, I watched the Steelers vs. Bengals game on television. It was an exciting game — and surprising one, at least for me — that the Bengals won. After all, according to ESPN.com,…
This past Wednesday, the “spot” price for gold closed above $4,000/troy ounce for the first time ever. By this measure alone, the shiny stuff is as expensive as it has ever been. At the end of…
This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) did NOT release “The Employment Situation – September 2025” as it was supposed to do. So, the markets will have to wait a little while longer to ascertain…
Perhaps not surprisingly, people frequently ask me about the potential impact artificial intelligence (AI) might have on the labor markets and, therefore, the U.S. economy. After all, consumer spending makes up close to 70% of Gross Domestic…
As everyone who reads economic newsletters should know by now, the Federal Reserve cut the target overnight lending rate by 0.25% last week. This move should not have come as a surprise to anyone. It was…