Friday

America’s central bank gathered for the final time in 2023 this week.  As was widely expected, there was no change in the Fed Funds Rate.  This is the rate banks charge each other for overnight lending and is set by the Federal Reserve.  Votes in the halls of the Eccles Building were unanimous, something we can’t say about ballots in other halls within our nation&rsqu

Droughts can be devastating.  Avocado farmers in Southern Spain are dealing with a difficult one now.  The change is so dramatic that according to this Bloomberg article, one 86-year-old farmer has decided to take down 2,500 trees, now using th

Climbing a mountain implies a single direction: up.  Yes, from time to time you might reach a false summit that then dips lower for a bit, but the general direction of travel is up.  Inflation isn’t much different.  During your entire life, there have only been rare exceptions to the rising climb.

Goldilocks was tired and hungry when she came across the Bears’ home.  Wanting to catch up on some sleep, she first tried Papa Bear’s bed, but it was too hard.  Then she jumped into Mama Bear’s, but it was too soft.

Interest rates are crucial to economic activity.  They impact the costs and therefore the incentives of financing the three pillars of the American economy: consumption, investment, and government spending.  Borrowing is done over various durations, from short to long.  Costs of loans are typically found on a menu known as a yield curve.

Are we in a drought or not?  It depends on where you live.  According to the map above, virtually all of California is not.  Those living to the southeast of the Golden State are not so lucky.  How did this come to be?  An excess of rain last year in California helped.  However, the West Coast probably shouldn’t act as if the current state of water will last

We all know the old saw about slowly boiling a frog.  It is a cruel idea but demonstrates how the consequences of steady, yet destructive behaviors can sneak up on us if we aren’t careful.  America has been growing its levels of debt for years.  Some have worried about the outcome while others are more sanguine.  For now, those remaining calm have been on the right sid

It’s preseason, but the National Football League has started its 2023 season.  There was a game on last night and more to come in the next few days.  Quarterbacks are arguably the most important player on the field.  They lead, execute strategies, and take blame when things don’t go their team’s way.  The role requires them to be under constant pressure fro

July 2023 was hot.  Numbers are still being crunched, but it’s likely to go down as the warmest on record.  That could set up for an interesting rest of the summer if the heat doesn’t back down some.  According to a group of researchers at University of California, Berkeley, (Solomon M.

Philadelphia is a significant city in American history.  Delegates from 12 of the 13 original colonies met as there as the First Continental Congress on September 5, 1774, for a meeting which lasted until October.  Fast forward nearly two centuries and American Bandstand (AB) premiered there in March 1952.