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For anyone with lingering thoughts that the first Black Friday reports indicated economic weakness, take heart: The November retail sales numbers released by the Commerce Department this morning showed solid, even strong growth, beating analyst expectations.
READ MORESince July, the price per barrel of oil has fallen from about $107 to $61 this morning. The national average price per gallon of regular gasoline has declined during that time from $3.70 to about $2.70 today. The decline in oil prices has put more disposable income into consumer pocketbooks, and boosted business profit margins.
READ MOREDespite all those headlines about a slow start to the holiday buying season, more reliable indicators show the economy is actually approaching a sweet spot of growth.
READ MOREWages showed a notable uptick in November, demonstrating that workers may finally be starting to feel the benefits of the economic recovery.
READ MOREThe Obama administration recently announced changes to the executive branch’s immigration enforcement priorities.
READ MOREWith President Obama and Republicans in Congress facing a Dec. 11 deadline to pass a spending bill, the economy could suffer if a long-term solution is not passed, said Polina Vlasenko, senior research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research.
READ MOREHere’s one more sign that the economy appears to be on a healthier path: The Commerce Department this morning revised upward its estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product, which is the value of a country’s finished goods and services. Consumer spending, business investment and housing were all revised higher from the department’s initial estimate. Today’s revision from the original Oct. 30 estimate “points to healthier domestic demand growth” than the department originally estimated, said Bob Hughes, senior research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. Headline GDP was 3.9 percent, up from the department’s initial estimate of 3.5 percent. Prices paid by consumers over the last 12 months, excluding the volatile commodities of food and energy, were revised slightly lower. Corporate profits hit a record high during the third quarter, “suggesting solid support for equity markets,” Hughes said. The outlook for the economy, Hughes said, “remains positive as steady improvements in the labor market, gains in household wealth, and improving consumer confidence” are likely to support continued real economic growth. That, plus low inflation, stable profit margins, and solid earnings growth “should be a very supportive environment for U.S. equity markets over the next few quarters.”
READ MOREWith Black Friday around the corner, all signs point toward a healthier holiday season at U.S. retailers, said Bob Hughes, senior research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research.
READ MOREThere were some promising signs for the economy within today’s Labor Department report on the Consumer Price Index, said Robert Hughes, senior research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research.
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AIER presented its holistic approach to teaching economics as part of the recent 10th Annual Economics Teaching Conference in San Diego. More than 200 economic educators participated in the conference. Natalia V. Smirnova and Michelle Ryan (shown left) presented best practices of its Teach-the-Teachers Initiative, such as interactive techniques of teaching economics in high-school, focus on relevance of economic concepts to peoples’ lives, and methods of collecting and sorting through data. Other presenters demonstrated creative ways to engage students in learning economics, such as using experiments, simulations, and games. They showed how to use Twitter to improve writing skills, and how to use Google to increase collaboration in the classroom. Keynote speakers included N. Gregory Mankiw of Harvard University (shown right), who spoke about better ways to measure income inequality. Psychologist Stephen Chew of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama explained the cognitive basis for effective teaching. Michael Watts from Purdue University dazzled attendees with his presentation on the 100 best paintings for teaching economics. And Denise Hazlett of Whitman College in Washington conducted a banking experiment that demonstrated the importance of the concept of a debt-to-equity ratio. The conference brought the discussion of economic education and pedagogy to a large audience at the
READ MORECompetition among wireless phone providers, which has long been shallow and sluggish, is heating up, helping drive down consumer bills in recent months, and quantifiably putting more money in peoples’ pockets to spend on other things, the American Institute for Economic Research is reporting.
READ MOREIt remains unclear when the Federal Reserve will raise short-term interest rates, after the release of the minutes of its Oct. 28-29 meeting today, said Jia Liu, research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research.
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