Common Cents Blog
Although I have never understood the mania over the Star Wars franchise, I like a good science fiction yarn. To that end, I really enjoyed The Matrix, at least the first movie of that particular series.…
My wife tells me I am lousy at watching movies, if one can be thus. It seems I either google the ending on my phone, or I determine it on my own halfway through the show.…
This weekend, the G-7 Summit will take place in Hiroshima, Japan. Given that city’s economic importance, its selection as the host city was symbolic. Regardless, you are forgiven if you missed the news about the conference.…
When I was a child, my father frequently told me I needed to have “an ace in the hole.” Whenever I wanted to drop something or focus my intentions elsewhere, he would dust off the “ace…
Common Cents Blog
The Highs (Interest Rates and Debt), the Lows (Unemployment) and What It Means for the Rest of Us
Today is Cinco de Mayo. While many Americans think this is Mexico’s Independence Day, it is actually a somewhat secondary holiday south of the border. By just about all accounts, it is more popular in the…
This past week, some of us took a personality test here at the office. My answers to the questions scored out as an ENFP-A, or an ‘Active Campaigner.’ According to the website, one of the bigger…
For many years, I have maintained that our nation’s greater problems are societal in nature, not necessarily economic. While the two are inexorably connected, we measure economic activity with calculations, equations, assumptions and estimates. After all,…
This week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new guidelines for tailpipe emissions. For all intents and purposes, the changes will effectively kill gas and diesel engines in the United States. Not surprisingly, this was the…
This past Tuesday, I made an early morning economic presentation to a group in Knoxville, Tennessee. I followed the mayor of Knoxville, Glenn Jacobs, who used to be the WWE professional wrestler Kane. Jacobs, a massive…
This past week, I made a presentation on the economy at a conference in New Orleans. Say what you will about the place, but people love to go to NOLA and have a good time. There…