I've always believed that taxes on the first thousand dollars of savings bank interest (or its equivalent in money market funds) ought to be tax-exempt, period. But that's just me. It seems that George Bailey would be spinning in his grave if the bell hadn't rung for him already.
For everyone else who complains and claims the BLS is the bureau of lies and secrets...
you should sign this petition but also raise hell about something else.
I put the fact that multinational corporations are forcing government statistical agencies to not disclose the number of jobs they offshore or create offshore instead of the United States.
I do not know who to raise hell about this with, the SEC, the administration, your congress rep. but the bottom line is government should trump corporations and they should be required not only to disclose all of their business dealings in quarterly statements, absolutely they should not be able to force government to keep secret their investments, headcount activities per state.
I think a secondary area to complain about this are State governments. Think about it, since when should it be allowed that a publicly traded company is can insist the federal government shut up about statistics or even worse, refuse to disclose them and get away with it. (such as headcount, investments, cash on hand, suppliers and so on).
Thank you for publicizing the potential demise of the Statistical Abstract and the petition. There is also a FB group if you would like to stay up-to-date on this issue https://www.facebook.com/groups/193019537404038/. And contact your legislators! (via letter, email, phone or Twitter)
One of the things that bothers me is the differences in way unemployment statistics were taken in the 30's, then again the change in 1996 to compare apples to apples. I believe there were also other changes, such as to CPI, GDP and so on.
I also have issue with NBER being the great cycle dater and iff and only iff GDP is negative that constitutes a recession (technical definition).
Regardless, technically the U.S. is more like the lost decade in Japan or the great economic stagnation with a beyond belief jobs crisis.
I suppose it isn't much, but after the hurricane and the tornado, after the earthquake and after the fire, there persisted the "still small voice" of truth.
"And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?" 1 Kings 19:13 (KJV)
The case is like that of the Dragon-Slayer, who approaches the dragon and then politely asks, "What be your name?"
Altar piece by artist known as 'Master of the St. George Altarpiede', tempera, linded wood covered with canvas. Image scanned from Bohemian art of the gothic and early renaissance periods, Press Foto, Praha (copyright expired). Wikimedia Commons (2007)
__________
Three-part (3 PDFs) mini-book linked at ZeroHedge webpage, humorously titled 'Compare and Contrast to the Great Depression: in Three Parts'.
The booklet (in three parts, totaling about 35 pages), Comparisons to the 1930s, is by Scott Minard, (Chief Investment Officer, Geggenheim Partners, LLC), August-September 2010.
ZeroHedge has resurrected Minard's work from a year ago because there still doesn't seem to be anything better on the subject.
IMO, Minard's insistence on this being the "Great Recession" rather than the "Second Great Depression" bears reexamination in 2011.
It's becoming a lot like 'First World War' and 'Second World War'.
World War II began as a little old European war, like usual ... something to do with implosion of the British Empire, oil, gold, the Great Depression and the Bolsheviks. The First Great Depression began as a little old 'panic', like usual ... something to do with implosion of the British Empire, oil, gold, World War I and the Bolsheviks.
After all, World War I was the war to end all war. And the Great Depression was the economic depression to end all economic depressions, wasn't it?
What I always wonder about is the heavy focus on mistakes of the Fed in the 1930s with so little focus, comparatively, on mistakes of the Fed in the 1920s ... or the possibility that the Fed (as instituted) was itself a mistake since its creation in 1913!
BTW: Who needs to form up focus groups and hire professional shrinks to figure them out, when all you really need is a good exchange of views, non-monitored and unvetted, by people posting at ZeroHedge? They psychoanalyze each other!
I usually overview up two articles on the unemployment report but this month I'll try to do 3 or 4 and break down by what's available, i.e. age, occupations, "foreign born" (which is ridiculous because it only means who was not born in the U.S.) and so on.
This is what I mean, there is so much evidence that labor arbitrage has been going on for some time, offshore outsourcing and it's clearly at critical mass, yet you cannot get a word, not a word out of politicians and even these "so called" mainstream economists. There actually are some heavy weight economists who point to all of these issues creating workforce malaise but they of course are almost "kicked out of the club" in terms of political positions and so on. Although they do testify before Congress where all of their expertise and research is promptly ignored.
You're right. I was overcome by cynicism. I should have at least inserted a question mark, as I usually do, to indicate that I'm not stating a fact. Or, I could have used one of those all-purpose qualifiers like 'possibly', 'perhaps', 'arguably', or, (when there's a source to blame it on) 'allegedly'. Or, I should have used one of those funny little faces to indicate "Don't read this literally
Anyway, he's a public figure now, so he has to take all the abuse we can throw at him
At least my sword was two-edged and cut into both political parties, meeting the gold standard for unbiased reporting these days. After all, I did hint that the votes of GOP members of the House might be influenced by considerations of political patronage
But I don't think that it's a stretch to suggest that the President is concerned that the BLS unemployment rate published in September/October/November 2012 may be 10% or more. And I don't think it's a stretch to suppose that the President may have suggested to Mr. Krueger that a number less than the current 9% -- even a solid 8% -- would be nice to see a year from now ???
It happens that HuffPo today (Lila Shapiro) published a review of the government reports and informed commentary on the "youth unemployment crisis" aspect of current and downward-trending record lows in the labor force participation rate.
Shapiro's article begins by preparing readers for bad news to come: "As we look forward to this Friday's [3 September 2011] August unemployment snapshot from the Department of Labor ... "
Skipping over the endemic unemployment situation for school dropouts and the matter of incarceration rates, Shapiro does make the crucial connection between:
(1) the lowest-ever 48.8% July youth employment rate (for ages 16 to 24), and,
(2) the percentage point decline form 2010 to a record low of 59.5% for the labor force participation rate.
(I use "lowest-ever" and "record low" as short for "lowest since the BLS began collecting such data, in 1948." That is, lower than in 1948 or any time since.)
Sources cited by Shapiro, other than BLS:
Carl E. Van Horn, a labor economist at Rutgers University and one of the authors of the recent report "Unfulfilled Expectations: Recent College Graduates Struggle in a Troubled Economy"
Algernon Austin, director of the Race, Ethnicity and the Economy Program at the Economic Policy Institute
Andrew Sum in a report on teen summer employment for the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University
The crisis ranges from college graduates coming from the suburbs to high school dropouts in inner-cities. Two age groups are most impacted: the young and the old. But "the pain is not evenly spread. According to Algernon Austin's research, compiled from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and additional sources of data, black teens are the least likely to find summer work, while rich white teens are most likely" (Shapiro).
"The labor force participation rate is at a record low for American workers of all ages [but] a growing group of young Americans, so frustrated by their fruitless search for employment that they give up looking entirely, could have its own unique and troubling consequences -- not just in the immediate future but for decades to come ... " (Shapiro).
"The economy continues to be very weak. This point cannot be over-emphasized ... So we have, even in this group, at this young age, individuals who may have tried several summers, or for a year or more since completing high school or completing college, and have not been able to to find work." -- Algernon Austin
"People who are the economic victims of recessions bear a burden that goes on beyond the duration of the recession ... These two groups really are going to pay the heaviest price. The older workers can't get back into the labor market and the younger workers can't get in to begin with." -- Carl Van Horn
"The substantial drop in teen employment prospects has had a devastating effect on the nation’s youngest teens (16-17), males, blacks, low income youth, and inner city, minority males ... "Those youth who need work experience the most get it the least ... " -- Andrew Sum
Looks like we'll get more numbers on Friday.
Meanwhile, all I can think is that "if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and squawks like a duck, it probably is a duck!"
I don't know if he is against a VAT, just he doesn't mention it at all, which is very odd for a VAT is superior to a national sales tax due to it's "at the border adjustment".
I do not know what Krueger thinks of a VAT. I would not imply someone is manipulating statistics, more I happen to have read the Card papers a long time ago. But Krueger did not co-author that particular "paper", but I clearly see the same agenda and the two teaming up to basically claim their philosophy on migration and labor markets is actual fact. Not So and from everything I've read, the bottom line is all other variables held constant, the laws of supply and demand are still as rock solid as they always have been, i.e. increase labor supply dramatically and suddenly and one will have repressed wages and worker displacement. I personally am not happy with anyone, any group, any individual who manipulates equations, data sets to conclude what they "want" as a political agenda or "philosophy" and that goes from the Heritage Foundation to AEI, McKinsey Institution to the SEIU to the Halls of Academia.
I have a background in hard sciences and this kind of fudging is just unreal, not cool, and on top of it, I don't think few even find the fudges for it's buried into false, invalid assumptions or equation manipulation. It truly is obscene and I think hurts the field generally.
Kind of like CDSes for policy wonks. Anywho, the fact team Obama didn't release a plan plus we're already hearing "bi-partisan" which means more completely ineffective "tax cuts" as an agenda (and sure helps that deficit doesn't it?) I doubt we're going to see anything.
This guy though, sure isn't going to suggest something like "confront China on currency manipulation" even though that is hugely bipartisan as something people want to see happen, economists of many flavors and stripes, or say reform NAFTA or enact a real Hire America Buy American program and so on.
I don't have the latest stats on black youth unemployment but I could swear it was above 50% nationwide. Don't quote me for I"m not bothering to get that stat, but it's beyond belief high!
Of course, deport all of the illegal workers doing those restaurant, dock, construction jobs and that might have something to do with it. 20 years ago all of these jobs were traditionally high school student part time jobs. Of course never mentioned again because it goes against someone's political agenda and philosophy.
Seems like maybe this Kruger has a real expertise in tweaking employment stats. Whatever it takes, the White House wants to see published unemployment rate below 9%, preferably 8% or less by September/October 2012. It's like when a corporate CEO gives the CFO orders to find a way to show certain profit or earnings numbers for the annual report. "Do it! Whatever it takes!" Just like any other literary genre, somebody has to be paid to write economic fiction.
Krueger, fortunately knows about depressed employment to population ratios, yet presents no policy recommendations on what to do about the millions of people who have dropped out of the unemployment count.
Interesting speculation about Job Corps enlargement. Not only stats, but also underlying reality for employment among inner-city youth, may be crucial to voter turnout. Could enough of the GOP in the House go for that to get it though? ... maybe, but hardly seems likely ... unless there is a political patronage twist to it.
Would youth enlisted in the Job Corps be counted as employed ... or would they be 'institutionalzed' and so out of the workforce population? Kruger presumably will pay attention to details like that.
BTW: It's inane that anyone would favor a national consumption tax and yet be categorically opposed to a VAT.
Excellent piracy! They robbed their shareholders in 2008 by a 75% dividend cut, which has yet to be restored. Where are their shareholder lawsuits? Talk about free money -- Immelt could teach the Fed something.
But it gets worse. Not only does GE outsource technology, but their tax refunds are invested in China, as are much of the dividends they pay out! And, worser, many CEOs aren't cashing out to "invest" in anything but gold. In other words, the most profiteering of the CEOs aren't investing at all -- they are seeking treasure to squirrel away like pirates of old. (Of old, pirates were sometimes apprehended to be hanged by the neck until dead ... or occasionally quartered after being drawn.)
(complete with graphs, not shown here for reasons of intellectual property rights)
Applying simple trendline analysis, and considering the fact that the usual seasonal peak is now behind us, we can see that the downtrend in house prices has yet to be broken. The next significant point will be this winter when prices normally hit their seasonal nadir. If prices in January hold above last January's level, then we'd have a basis for calling a potential bottom in housing prices.
A wag ('Earl of Chiswick') at ZeroHedge calls it "the soon to be announced Fannie Fredie Rent America program"!
I diagnose the basic problem as constipation of the banking tract complicated by infestation of parasitic cockroach, Diplotera incorporata. Not a pretty picture.
and I plan on putting the comments as a separate twitter feed. More and more people are online via cell phones so I'm looking to scale the site and make it more useable.
That said, I hear ya. Facebook drives me nuts. I have to rip to shreds ALL of my security to even log on, because I have security they always assume it's some hacker. They want to track every stupid thing you click and do and finally, something I can do in half an hour on this site or write up in code, I have to dig around and figure out the "Facebook way". Like just giving the posts a summary view for people who use and like Facebook took forever and then I ran into a host of "apps" who wanted to charge service fees for such a basic thing.
Ugh.
I'm also in the process of adding the ability to subscribe via a news letter, or digest posts to one's email. Some people like that better.
like U.S. Chamber of Commerce is such a unbiased source ...
Their numbers are fine and in this case, the releasing statistical agency is the BEA, who is under the U. S. Chamber of Commerce. [Oak, underline added]
Should be "U. S. Department of Commerce"!
Excellent explanations, especially for math wonks like myself. Definitions with math symbols can be much easier to read and understand than the explanations in plain language (seriously, although some may think I'm making a joke). Hardest thing for me is all the doggone acronyms!
At this point I think I deserve at least a specialty certificate, if not another MS in "BEA accounting madness". I dig around often in their various methods annual GDP, while you don't see those sudden dramatic spikes you see in quarterly, basically is a valid number.
Doesn't mean those two quarters of disaster Q4 2008/Q1 2009 didn't happen. The above yearly, does actually match mathematically to the below quarterly graph. Quarterly data is annualized and all it says mathematically is what would the rate look like if it extended not just for 3 months, but over an entire year? You can see the above annualization EQ basically breaks back down to percent change and that's why (1/1 is really 12/12 or 4/4 depending if one is annualizing monthly or quarterly).
Anywho, this stuff can get very confusing and why I bother to write it up. I have seen more than one financial journalist make gross errors with I think Market Watch having the least, AP with the most and Bloomberg...well, I don't know what they are doing "prewriting" economic metrics as "probably" which are always wrong when the release comes out...
anywho, it came be a minefield from hell to parse through BEA numbers, definitions and methods (guess same is true for all of 'em).
I've always believed that taxes on the first thousand dollars of savings bank interest (or its equivalent in money market funds) ought to be tax-exempt, period. But that's just me. It seems that George Bailey would be spinning in his grave if the bell hadn't rung for him already.
Note that Zandi analysis came from an independent banking analyst who was anonymous, as his firm does work for and with Zandi's employer.
For everyone else who complains and claims the BLS is the bureau of lies and secrets...
you should sign this petition but also raise hell about something else.
I put the fact that multinational corporations are forcing government statistical agencies to not disclose the number of jobs they offshore or create offshore instead of the United States.
I do not know who to raise hell about this with, the SEC, the administration, your congress rep. but the bottom line is government should trump corporations and they should be required not only to disclose all of their business dealings in quarterly statements, absolutely they should not be able to force government to keep secret their investments, headcount activities per state.
I think a secondary area to complain about this are State governments. Think about it, since when should it be allowed that a publicly traded company is can insist the federal government shut up about statistics or even worse, refuse to disclose them and get away with it. (such as headcount, investments, cash on hand, suppliers and so on).
Thank you for publicizing the potential demise of the Statistical Abstract and the petition. There is also a FB group if you would like to stay up-to-date on this issue https://www.facebook.com/groups/193019537404038/. And contact your legislators! (via letter, email, phone or Twitter)
One of the things that bothers me is the differences in way unemployment statistics were taken in the 30's, then again the change in 1996 to compare apples to apples. I believe there were also other changes, such as to CPI, GDP and so on.
I also have issue with NBER being the great cycle dater and iff and only iff GDP is negative that constitutes a recession (technical definition).
Regardless, technically the U.S. is more like the lost decade in Japan or the great economic stagnation with a beyond belief jobs crisis.
I suppose it isn't much, but after the hurricane and the tornado, after the earthquake and after the fire, there persisted the "still small voice" of truth.
"And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?" 1 Kings 19:13 (KJV)
The case is like that of the Dragon-Slayer, who approaches the dragon and then politely asks, "What be your name?"
Altar piece by artist known as 'Master of the St. George Altarpiede', tempera, linded wood covered with canvas. Image scanned from Bohemian art of the gothic and early renaissance periods, Press Foto, Praha (copyright expired). Wikimedia Commons (2007)
__________
Three-part (3 PDFs) mini-book linked at ZeroHedge webpage, humorously titled 'Compare and Contrast to the Great Depression: in Three Parts'.
The booklet (in three parts, totaling about 35 pages), Comparisons to the 1930s, is by Scott Minard, (Chief Investment Officer, Geggenheim Partners, LLC), August-September 2010.
ZeroHedge has resurrected Minard's work from a year ago because there still doesn't seem to be anything better on the subject.
IMO, Minard's insistence on this being the "Great Recession" rather than the "Second Great Depression" bears reexamination in 2011.
It's becoming a lot like 'First World War' and 'Second World War'.
World War II began as a little old European war, like usual ... something to do with implosion of the British Empire, oil, gold, the Great Depression and the Bolsheviks. The First Great Depression began as a little old 'panic', like usual ... something to do with implosion of the British Empire, oil, gold, World War I and the Bolsheviks.
After all, World War I was the war to end all war. And the Great Depression was the economic depression to end all economic depressions, wasn't it?
What I always wonder about is the heavy focus on mistakes of the Fed in the 1930s with so little focus, comparatively, on mistakes of the Fed in the 1920s ... or the possibility that the Fed (as instituted) was itself a mistake since its creation in 1913!
American Monetary Institute
_____
BTW: Who needs to form up focus groups and hire professional shrinks to figure them out, when all you really need is a good exchange of views, non-monitored and unvetted, by people posting at ZeroHedge? They psychoanalyze each other!
I usually overview up two articles on the unemployment report but this month I'll try to do 3 or 4 and break down by what's available, i.e. age, occupations, "foreign born" (which is ridiculous because it only means who was not born in the U.S.) and so on.
This is what I mean, there is so much evidence that labor arbitrage has been going on for some time, offshore outsourcing and it's clearly at critical mass, yet you cannot get a word, not a word out of politicians and even these "so called" mainstream economists. There actually are some heavy weight economists who point to all of these issues creating workforce malaise but they of course are almost "kicked out of the club" in terms of political positions and so on. Although they do testify before Congress where all of their expertise and research is promptly ignored.
Robert Oak:
You're right. I was overcome by cynicism. I should have at least inserted a question mark, as I usually do, to indicate that I'm not stating a fact. Or, I could have used one of those all-purpose qualifiers like 'possibly', 'perhaps', 'arguably', or, (when there's a source to blame it on) 'allegedly'. Or, I should have used one of those funny little faces to indicate "Don't read this literally
Anyway, he's a public figure now, so he has to take all the abuse we can throw at him
At least my sword was two-edged and cut into both political parties, meeting the gold standard for unbiased reporting these days. After all, I did hint that the votes of GOP members of the House might be influenced by considerations of political patronage
But I don't think that it's a stretch to suggest that the President is concerned that the BLS unemployment rate published in September/October/November 2012 may be 10% or more. And I don't think it's a stretch to suppose that the President may have suggested to Mr. Krueger that a number less than the current 9% -- even a solid 8% -- would be nice to see a year from now ???
It happens that HuffPo today (Lila Shapiro) published a review of the government reports and informed commentary on the "youth unemployment crisis" aspect of current and downward-trending record lows in the labor force participation rate.
"Youth Unemployment Crisis Has Longterm Implications For Teens, The Economy"
Shapiro's article begins by preparing readers for bad news to come: "As we look forward to this Friday's [3 September 2011] August unemployment snapshot from the Department of Labor ... "
Skipping over the endemic unemployment situation for school dropouts and the matter of incarceration rates, Shapiro does make the crucial connection between:
(1) the lowest-ever 48.8% July youth employment rate (for ages 16 to 24), and,
(2) the percentage point decline form 2010 to a record low of 59.5% for the labor force participation rate.
(I use "lowest-ever" and "record low" as short for "lowest since the BLS began collecting such data, in 1948." That is, lower than in 1948 or any time since.)
Sources cited by Shapiro, other than BLS:
The crisis ranges from college graduates coming from the suburbs to high school dropouts in inner-cities. Two age groups are most impacted: the young and the old. But "the pain is not evenly spread. According to Algernon Austin's research, compiled from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and additional sources of data, black teens are the least likely to find summer work, while rich white teens are most likely" (Shapiro).
"The labor force participation rate is at a record low for American workers of all ages [but] a growing group of young Americans, so frustrated by their fruitless search for employment that they give up looking entirely, could have its own unique and troubling consequences -- not just in the immediate future but for decades to come ... " (Shapiro).
Looks like we'll get more numbers on Friday.
Meanwhile, all I can think is that "if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and squawks like a duck, it probably is a duck!"
What it is: the Second Great Depression.
I don't know if he is against a VAT, just he doesn't mention it at all, which is very odd for a VAT is superior to a national sales tax due to it's "at the border adjustment".
I do not know what Krueger thinks of a VAT. I would not imply someone is manipulating statistics, more I happen to have read the Card papers a long time ago. But Krueger did not co-author that particular "paper", but I clearly see the same agenda and the two teaming up to basically claim their philosophy on migration and labor markets is actual fact. Not So and from everything I've read, the bottom line is all other variables held constant, the laws of supply and demand are still as rock solid as they always have been, i.e. increase labor supply dramatically and suddenly and one will have repressed wages and worker displacement. I personally am not happy with anyone, any group, any individual who manipulates equations, data sets to conclude what they "want" as a political agenda or "philosophy" and that goes from the Heritage Foundation to AEI, McKinsey Institution to the SEIU to the Halls of Academia.
I have a background in hard sciences and this kind of fudging is just unreal, not cool, and on top of it, I don't think few even find the fudges for it's buried into false, invalid assumptions or equation manipulation. It truly is obscene and I think hurts the field generally.
Kind of like CDSes for policy wonks. Anywho, the fact team Obama didn't release a plan plus we're already hearing "bi-partisan" which means more completely ineffective "tax cuts" as an agenda (and sure helps that deficit doesn't it?) I doubt we're going to see anything.
This guy though, sure isn't going to suggest something like "confront China on currency manipulation" even though that is hugely bipartisan as something people want to see happen, economists of many flavors and stripes, or say reform NAFTA or enact a real Hire America Buy American program and so on.
I don't have the latest stats on black youth unemployment but I could swear it was above 50% nationwide. Don't quote me for I"m not bothering to get that stat, but it's beyond belief high!
Of course, deport all of the illegal workers doing those restaurant, dock, construction jobs and that might have something to do with it. 20 years ago all of these jobs were traditionally high school student part time jobs. Of course never mentioned again because it goes against someone's political agenda and philosophy.
Seems like maybe this Kruger has a real expertise in tweaking employment stats. Whatever it takes, the White House wants to see published unemployment rate below 9%, preferably 8% or less by September/October 2012. It's like when a corporate CEO gives the CFO orders to find a way to show certain profit or earnings numbers for the annual report. "Do it! Whatever it takes!" Just like any other literary genre, somebody has to be paid to write economic fiction.
Interesting speculation about Job Corps enlargement. Not only stats, but also underlying reality for employment among inner-city youth, may be crucial to voter turnout. Could enough of the GOP in the House go for that to get it though? ... maybe, but hardly seems likely ... unless there is a political patronage twist to it.
Would youth enlisted in the Job Corps be counted as employed ... or would they be 'institutionalzed' and so out of the workforce population? Kruger presumably will pay attention to details like that.
BTW: It's inane that anyone would favor a national consumption tax and yet be categorically opposed to a VAT.
Excellent piracy! They robbed their shareholders in 2008 by a 75% dividend cut, which has yet to be restored. Where are their shareholder lawsuits? Talk about free money -- Immelt could teach the Fed something.
Mo wins award for concise writing.
But it gets worse. Not only does GE outsource technology, but their tax refunds are invested in China, as are much of the dividends they pay out! And, worser, many CEOs aren't cashing out to "invest" in anything but gold. In other words, the most profiteering of the CEOs aren't investing at all -- they are seeking treasure to squirrel away like pirates of old. (Of old, pirates were sometimes apprehended to be hanged by the neck until dead ... or occasionally quartered after being drawn.)
Seems to me that I have seen a bottom established in some areas, but it's so low that no corporate source wants to acknowledge it.
Calling attention to ZeroHedge from column on left, republished "courtesy of Lee Adler of the Wall Street Examiner", "Housing Time Bomb Goes Tick Tock Tick Tock"
(complete with graphs, not shown here for reasons of intellectual property rights)
A wag ('Earl of Chiswick') at ZeroHedge calls it "the soon to be announced Fannie Fredie Rent America program"!
I diagnose the basic problem as constipation of the banking tract complicated by infestation of parasitic cockroach, Diplotera incorporata. Not a pretty picture.
and I plan on putting the comments as a separate twitter feed. More and more people are online via cell phones so I'm looking to scale the site and make it more useable.
That said, I hear ya. Facebook drives me nuts. I have to rip to shreds ALL of my security to even log on, because I have security they always assume it's some hacker. They want to track every stupid thing you click and do and finally, something I can do in half an hour on this site or write up in code, I have to dig around and figure out the "Facebook way". Like just giving the posts a summary view for people who use and like Facebook took forever and then I ran into a host of "apps" who wanted to charge service fees for such a basic thing.
Ugh.
I'm also in the process of adding the ability to subscribe via a news letter, or digest posts to one's email. Some people like that better.
They'll have to drag me kicking and screaming ...
I suppose Twitter is next ...
I think ecologists call it a "bloom".
See e.g., Wikipedia article Algal_bloom
Rhymes with "boom" .... as in "boom and bust."
Just a minor typo, but for the record ...
funny maybe ...
like U.S. Chamber of Commerce is such a unbiased source ...
Should be "U. S. Department of Commerce"!
Excellent explanations, especially for math wonks like myself. Definitions with math symbols can be much easier to read and understand than the explanations in plain language (seriously, although some may think I'm making a joke). Hardest thing for me is all the doggone acronyms!
At this point I think I deserve at least a specialty certificate, if not another MS in "BEA accounting madness". I dig around often in their various methods annual GDP, while you don't see those sudden dramatic spikes you see in quarterly, basically is a valid number.
Doesn't mean those two quarters of disaster Q4 2008/Q1 2009 didn't happen. The above yearly, does actually match mathematically to the below quarterly graph. Quarterly data is annualized and all it says mathematically is what would the rate look like if it extended not just for 3 months, but over an entire year? You can see the above annualization EQ basically breaks back down to percent change and that's why (1/1 is really 12/12 or 4/4 depending if one is annualizing monthly or quarterly).
Anywho, this stuff can get very confusing and why I bother to write it up. I have seen more than one financial journalist make gross errors with I think Market Watch having the least, AP with the most and Bloomberg...well, I don't know what they are doing "prewriting" economic metrics as "probably" which are always wrong when the release comes out...
anywho, it came be a minefield from hell to parse through BEA numbers, definitions and methods (guess same is true for all of 'em).
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