The Fed’s national wealth report for the second quarter is out today. For a New-Classical Macroeconomist, this is one of the most important data releases. Wealth is one of the most important theoretical drivers of consumption, and it is one of the drivers in our forecast model of the United States economy.

National wealth, . . . → Read More: United States Wealth

Last night we had a faculty meeting.  One of the issues that came up was parking congestion.  The University is growing, and this year there have been some problems finding parking spots.

More parking was suggested, but the number of parking spaces isn’t the problem.  The problem is that the University gives parking permits . . . → Read More: Economists Don’t Always Fit In

Here’s Bloomberg’s report on today’s data release.  One paragraph has caused the Drudge Report to run the headline “GOV’T MAKES IT UP: JOB NUMBERS ‘ESTIMATED’ FOR WEEK…” (Caps by Drudge).  Here’s the paragraph:

For the latest reporting week, nine states didn’t file claims data to the Labor Department in Washington because of the federal . . . → Read More: Death, Data, and Today’s Initial Jobless Claims Report

Mankiw has a post on the administration’s proposed changes in the tax treatment of investment.  As usual, he is right on.  The proposed treatment amounts to a zero interest loan, at a time when interest rates are already remarkably close to zero:

However, the impact will be relatively modest. Notice that expensing merely accelerates . . . → Read More: Mankiw Speaks

California Watch has a piece on the chief justice of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Seems he wants poor judges.  I have a problem with that.  Judges come from the lawyer pool, and there are four types of lawyers, listed below by probability of being wealthy:

Honest and competent Dishonest and competent Dishonest . . . → Read More: Lawyers, Wealth, and Judges