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More Funding For Science, Say Nobel Laureates (May 7)
I just got this press release from the American Physical Society. This is the sort of thing which depresses me. If we can't find the money to spend on science and innovation, then my optimism index goes way down. America?s...

Nonprofits and the Productivity Stats (May 7)
I've had this post sitting here for a while, and I've decided to just put it up. It's not earth-shaking, but it's kind of interesting. Last Wednesday the BLS announced strong productivity growth in the nonfarm business sector--2.2% in the...

Optimism Falls Short (May 1)
I had promised a week of optimistic posts, but only delivered 3. That means I owe you folks two more....

Real out-of-pocket spending shrank in Q1 (May 1)
According to the BEA's latest report, real personal consumption grew at a 1% rate in the first quarter. But once I take out the parts of PCE which don't actually come directly from consumer pockets, the rest of real PCE...

Should Bernanke Keep Cutting? Yes (Apr 28)
We live in a boom and bust world--and it's not the Fed's fault. As we wait to see what the Fed does on Wednesday, one thing is clear to me: Bernanke and his crew need to keep cutting rates until...

What About Energy? (Apr 23)
We all know that one of the biggest problems going forward is how to meet the energy needs of the world, while still reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases. This is the elephant in the living room, where our current...

The Promise of Real Healthcare (Apr 22)
Next in my series of optimistic posts: healthcare. There?s been a lot of bad news lately about healthcare. A new study just came out showing that life expectancy at birth has been declining in some counties since the 1980s. In...

Throw Malthus Off the Bus! (Apr 21)
This is the opener in my week of optimistic posts. And it?s a good time to do it, given the multifaceted surge of pessimism. One branch of pessimism is environmental/natural resources. This morning we had Paul Krugman writing a column...

BLS report shows low inflation in services (Apr 15)
This morning the BLS reported that the producer prices of finished goods jumped by 1.1% in March, putting them up by 6.9% over the past year. This was the headline number that freaked everyone out. But everyone is looking at...

A Week of Optimistic Posts (Apr 14)
Next week, that is. I've been too gloomy around here lately...violates my natural upbeat disposition. So next week (starting April 21), I promise a full five days of optimistic posts.* I've got most of them mapped out already, but if...