American Economics Thread

B

B.I.B.

Captain
if the company CEO did not know anything about it, then who did make the decision to falsify the emission results and how did they get outed. Were theVWs singled out for more comprehensive testing because of a tip off?
 
Quickie

Quickie

Colonel
Qi_1528 said:
There are businesses in Australia which will take cars with chips in them, and tune them to get the maximum power possible within the manufacturer's safety limits, also claiming better fuel economy.... One would think increasing the power would increase fuel consumption, and emissions, as we see here. What am I missing?
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Certain cars have an economy button that allows you to change the chip algorithm to improve fuel efficiency but you lose a certain amount of power, during acceleration, automatic gear changing etc. What they're saying is probably we've improved the maximum power, and incidentally the engine efficiency, but you still have to accelerate slowly by reducing power by being light on the pedal.
 
AssassinsMace

AssassinsMace

Lieutenant General
I talked to a friend and she told me she had the same experience as with my Volkswagen I mentioned earlier where she had to turn in her Ford for a more extensive smog test earlier in the year. First time for her too. No hooking up to any machines and no engine running. Just a visual inspection. Interesting to see if Ford is the next we hear about this emissions fraud.
 
P

PanAsian

Major
Thought this was an even-handed and just intricate enough description of the overall China-US relationship.

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7 simple questions and answers to understand China and the U.S.

By Ana Swanson September 22

The United States is rolling out the red carpet this week for the leader of the world’s most populous country. Chinese President Xi Jinping will first visit with tech executives and other industry leaders in Seattle, then head to Washington to meet with President Obama.

The meeting is a touchstone moment in an increasingly tumultuous relationship. The Obama administration has been preparing sanctions against China following a wave of cyber-espionage from Chinese hackers. And China has sparked the ire of U.S. businesses and politicians by devaluing its currency and favoring Chinese businesses over foreign ones.

Despite the tension, China remains one of the most important countries in the world for Americans. China is so big and fast-changing that its actions ripple around the world and influence life for average Americans — determining the price of things we buy, influencing what we make at our jobs, even changing the quality of the air we breathe.

But maybe because of its size, or its distance, or its complexity, it can be hard to grasp exactly why China matters. Here are seven questions — and answers — that will bring you up to speed on the state of China, and America's relationship with it.

1. Why does China matter? | 2. Is China still a poor country, or is it rich and powerful? | 3. What do the Chinese really want? | 4. Is China still communist? | 5. Is China's economy in trouble? | 6. Will China surpass the U.S. as the world's superpower? | 7. Should the U.S. view China as a threat or an opportunity?
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Lieutenant General
Watch for Dell's future cloud data storage to become more prevalent.:)

Computer maker Dell Inc said on Monday it had agreed to buy data storage company EMC Corp (EMC.N) in a $67 billion (44 billion pound) record technology deal that will unite two mature companies and create an enterprise technology powerhouse.

The acquisition will help privately held Dell diversify from a stagnant personal-computer market and give it greater scale in the more profitable and faster-growing market for managing and storing data.
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Lieutenant General
Is the economy turning around or is it just the typical upcoming Holiday excitement spending? Low gas prices does help in the short term, but long term we have to wait and see. Here in Houston, where it's the energy capital of the world (all those refineries), that's bad news as far as jobs is concern.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer sentiment rebounded strongly in early October, suggesting that the economic recovery remained on track despite headwinds from a strong dollar and weak global demand that have weighed on the industrial sector, particularly manufacturing.

The snapback in sentiment reported on Friday underscored robust domestic demand and offered hope that consumer spending would remain solid enough to support economic growth, which has slowed significantly in recent months.

The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index rose to 92.1 in early October from a reading of 87.2 September. The survey's current conditions sub-index shot up to 106.7 this month from 101.2 in September.

The index at current levels has historically been consistent with roughly a 4 percent annualized rate of consumer spending growth, according to economists.

"This suggests that U.S. household sentiment has turned an important corner, and is a hopeful sign on the outlook for consumer spending activity going forward, given signs of weakness in other parts of the economy," said Millan Mulraine, deputy chief economist at TD Securities in New York.

The rise in sentiment, which likely reflected cheaper gasoline prices, suggested limited impact from recent stock market volatility. Consumers were the most optimistic about their personal financial expectations since 2007.

Their views toward purchases of long-lasting manufactured goods were equally bullish.


Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity and has been the bright spot in the economy as the industrial sector wobbles under the onslaught of slowing global growth and the resurgent dollar, which have eroded demand for U.S. manufactured goods.

It is also being weighed down by lower energy oil prices that have undercut capital investment in the energy sector, as well as an effort by businesses to whittle down their inventories.

U.S. stocks were trading higher on Friday, while prices were U.S. Treasuries were mostly weaker. The U.S. dollar rose against a basket of currencies.



WEAK INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said industrial output slipped 0.2 percent on renewed weakness in oil and gas drilling after dipping 0.1 percent in August. Industrial production rose at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in the third quarter.

"We do not expect the recent slowing to lead to a broader pullback in aggregate growth, as service sector activity remains solid," said Jesse Hurwitz, an economist at Barclays in New York.

Manufacturing accounts for about 12 percent of the U.S. economy. Still, the weak industrial production report added to soft trade, retail sales and employment data that have pointed to a significant slowdown in growth after the economy expanded at a 3.9 percent annual pace in the second quarter.

Third-quarter growth estimates are currently around a 1.5 percent rate. Slower growth and low inflation have diminished expectations of an interest rate hike from the Fed this year.

Manufacturing output fell 0.1 percent in September even though robust demand for automobiles lifted motor vehicle and parts production by 0.2 percent. Manufacturing output dropped by 0.4 percent in August. For the third quarter, manufacturing output increased at a rate of 2.5 percent.

There were declines in the production of computer and electronic products, as well as electronic equipment, appliances and components. Primary metals and machinery output increased.

Mining production fell 2.0 percent as oil and gas well drilling tumbled 4.0 percent after increasing for two straight months. An almost 60 percent plunge in oil prices since June 2014 has hurt the profits of oil-field companies like Schlumberger (SLB.N) and Halliburton , leading to deep cuts in their capital spending budgets.

Utilities production increased 1.3 percent in September. With output declining, industrial capacity use fell to 77.5 percent from 77.8 percent in August.

Officials at the Fed tend to look at capacity use as a signal of how much "slack" remains in the economy and how much room there is for growth to accelerate before it becomes inflationary.

The lackluster industrial production picture was reflected in a swathe of manufacturers' results on Friday, with General Electric Co (GE.N) and Honeywell International Inc (HON.N) reporting dips in revenue along with profits that were better than forecast.
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Equation

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Lieutenant General
Robert Reich: Why your cable bill is so high

If you’re like most Americans, you have wondered at some point – probably monthly – why your cable bill is so high. And for good reason. The average cable bill in the United States rose 5% in 2012, the latest year available. That’s nearly triple the rate of inflation. And that elevated expense gets you some of the slowest service in the developed world.


What about airfare?Average domestic airfare rose 2.5% last year to $391. That’s the highest level since the
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began tracking the data in 1995.

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, meanwhile, are down nearly thirty percent or about a dollar a gallon since last year.

So why do prices in some industries seem to remain stubbornly high despite market forces that would seem to demand otherwise?

In an interview with Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer before a live audience at
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, noted economist and former Labor Secretary under President Clinton, Robert Reich, says it’s about politics.

“People ask me, ‘why is it that my airfare hasn’t gone down even though fuel prices have plummeted over the last three years,’” he said. “Fifteen years ago we had nine major airlines. Now we have four major airlines and in many hubs, there are only one or two. Voila. You don’t have competition.”


Reich says that’s the case because the companies - airlines, Internet service providers and others - have consolidated power as they have consolidated their industries.

“Some of it has to do with politics and the power of these industries over the rules of the game with regard to airlines, Internet service, anti-trust and what have you.”

Cable rates are up 56% since Congress deregulated the industry in 1996, according to
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. Over that same time period, inflation is up 21%.

Reich offers another example of where the rules have been rewritten in the last 30 years to benefit the few instead of the many, in his view: bankruptcy laws.

“It is possible, for example, for a major industrialist to declare bankruptcy four times to shield his fortune,” he said in a not-so-veiled reference to one Donald Trump. “But if you’re a homeowner and you got caught in the downdraft of a major recession to the point where you owed more on your home than the home was worth, you cannot use bankruptcy to reorganize your mortgage debt. Or if you graduate with a huge amount of student debt and you can’t manage it, you cannot use bankruptcy to reorganize that student debt. Now, is that just the way it is? No! It’s politics. It’s power.”
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Lieutenant General
Looks like Kansas Ciy, Missouri are doing pretty well economically.:)

The third game of the the World Series tonight moves to Queens, with the Kansas City Royals so far dominating, two games to none over the New York Mets. And while this face-off between metro and wholesome Midwest underlies cities with two very different economies and cultures, they both sport strong growth.


Although the hometown of the Mets is known as a hotbed of business, Kansas City, Missouri boasts strong growth across industries, including auto and even tech.

Kansas City, the 37th largest city in the nation with a population of about 470,000, has seen a marked recovery in the unemployment rate, dropping to 4.4% from over 9% during the recession, when industrial sectors were hit hard.

In comments shared during an event on Friday, Kansas City Fed President
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highlighted that "we have been fortunate to see a labor market that has healed fairly rapidly." The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City covers the 10th District of the Federal Reserve.

Kansas City Mayor Sly James told Yahoo Finance that while the city has traditionally been dominated by the auto industry, second only to Detroit, he has seen strong growth across healthcare, financial services, and especially technology.

After all, Kansas City was the first city to roll out Google's (
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) fiber network. "Google put us in the spotlight with an entirely different set of people -- the young, technical crowd, millennials, businesses that need broadband, and creative types," James says.

This has led to further technological inroads for the city, including a recent partnership with Cisco Systems (
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) on the connected city. And increased efforts to boost entrepreneurship by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, founded by the late former Royals owner Ewing Kauffman, respresents other areas of focus for the city. Goodbye Silicon Valley and hello Silicon Prairie?

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    James says, though, that this isn't about Kansas City catching up to other cities. "We have our own rhythm, charm and style. We know who we are and we're not trying to be anyone else," he says.

    As for cost of living? "It's very reasonable," a fact that has attracted a growing number of millennials to the city. In a survey conducted earlier this year by home finance agency Fannie Mae, millennials are following the jobs to secondary cities where the cost of living is significantly lower than hubs like New York City.

    David Kemper, CEO of Commerce Bancshares (
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    ), which has served as the bank for the Royals since they were an expansion team in 1969, didn't shy away from highlighting strong trends he sees in the Royals' hometown, citing a real renaissance underway with residential buildings sprouting up in the downtown area.

    "Our loans are up 7% from a year ago and we continue to have wage growth in the third quarter," Kemper says. "We aren’t without our challenges—particularly agriculture and commodities—but overall it’s a good healthy economy with a competitive rent structure and cost of living. We never have the extreme ups and downs."

    And many of the companies with headquarters in Kansas City have been very technologically focused. Look no further than Cerner (
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    ), the healthcare information technology company. Cerner was named one of Forbes' most innovative companies last year, as it has led the charge in electronic health records. Tax services provider H&R Block (
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    ), also based in Kansas City, has also been investing heavily in technological initiatives, along with fellow-Missouri name DST Systems (
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    ), providing information process and software services.

    And business leaders in the city are out in full force to root on their team. Pat Ottensmeyer, president of Kansas City Southern (
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    ), whose railroad network is largely exposed to the growing Mexican economy long-term, says he's cautiously ready for victory: "We are humble Midwesterners, so we are not taking anything for granted. As New York legend Yogi Berra once said, 'It aint over till it's over,' but....we really like our chances!"

    One cohort certainly hoping for a longer and more competitive series? Television networks, which have seen World Series viewership decline dramatically. While Tuesday's 14-inning opener became the most-watched Game 1 in five years, baseball viewing has fallen, with last year's Series averaging just under 14 million viewers, well below ratings of about 35 million two decades ago, according to Nielsen data. The 24-hour news cycle and endless Internet options, along with the rise of the NFL and the increasing popularity of football fantasy leagues, have all contributed to the decline. To put it in perspective, Super Bowl XLIX last February attracted 114 million viewers.
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