Latest Articles from Steven Hansen

weekly Review: Should Your Kid Be a High School Dropout?

Steven Hansen — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:44:02 Z

There have been several posts over the past few weeks discussing college / university education. Goldman Sachs economist Jan Hatzius stated : [T]he faster job growth among college graduates

Jobs Reports and the Economy

Steven Hansen — Fri, 10 May 2013 21:15:00 Z

It continues to amaze me of the love affair between Wall Street and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment situation report - aka the Jobs Report. It is nearly a worthless data set in

Weekly Review: Corporations Are Taxing the Economy

Steven Hansen — Fri, 03 May 2013 11:48:17 Z

This week Personal Consumption data was released showing weak (but above expectations) growth. Since 2000 to the end of 4Q2012: Population grew 12.0%; Inflation 31.9% (using GDP deflator);

Will Congress Screw Seniors?

Steven Hansen — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 10:01:51 Z

How many of the elderly live totally on social security benefits live better and better every year? It seems that social security is designed as a declining real benefit program. Yet the

Weekly Review: Headwinds to Auto and Housing Sectors

Steven Hansen — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:49:16 Z

The inordinate growth of student loans – and its effect on the economy – is killing consumption (autos) and the housing sector. This is no short term dynamic, but will effect the economy

Weekly Review: Will Markets Correct When Quantitative Easing Ends?

Steven Hansen — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 17:41:17 Z

The Federal Reserve’s FOMC meeting minutes were released earlier this week indicating many (few, majority, most, all?) members were leaning towards terminating some aspects of the current

Weekly Review: Do You Think the Markets Will Crash?

Steven Hansen — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:56:11 Z

This week, Marc Faber (aka Dr. Doom) stated on CNBC: I don’t think the market is as overbought as it was in ’87, so I don’t expect a crash. But I think for the time being, the market has

Weekly Review: Forecasting an Improving Economy

Steven Hansen — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 18:01:06 Z

Last week, my weekend “think piece ” showed that the unadjusted data was not (yet) confirming an economic expansion. This week I shift to Econintersect ‘s economic forecast which will be

Weekly Review: Little Confirmation Yet the Economy Is Expanding

Steven Hansen — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 00:27:38 Z

The Federal Reserve’s FOMC believes the economy’s rate of expansion is improving. It is not that the economy MAY be expanding at a faster rate – but the evidence is mixed to negative at

High Government Spending With High Debt IS a Problem

Steven Hansen — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:01:26 Z

You should be concerned with those who claim debt is subsiding, and therefore the government should continue high spending to stimulate the economy. Paul Krugman in a New York Times Op-Ed

Weekly Review: Will Sequestor Trigger a Recession?

Steven Hansen — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 22:06:56 Z

Economists continue to warn that austerity is not the way to go for government spending. I am open to using austerity as one of the tools to balance an economy – just not the primary

Weekly Review: Sequester, Tails You Lose, Heads You Lose

Steven Hansen — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:43:14 Z

Co-authored this week with John Lounsbury CBO [Congressional Budget Office] requests appropriations of $45.7 million for fiscal year 2014. That amount represents an increase of $1.6

Weekly Review: There Will Be Little Relief from High Oil Prices

Steven Hansen — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 19:51:16 Z

Recent releases from the International Energy Agency tell of moderating growth rate of the global demand for oil – which was based on lower economic growth projections. And promises of

Weekly Review: Overstatements by US Census On Economic Releases

Steven Hansen — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 18:14:41 Z

Most readers know I have issues with the US Census headline data. The data does not add up against itself. When I was a negotiator, one of the tools used is to run your

Weekly Review: What Is Happening to the Housing "Recovery"

Steven Hansen — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 18:17:19 Z

The nascent recovery of new and existing home sales may be losing some steam. New home December 2012 sales were the worst year-over-year gain in 2012. Pending Home December 2012