Demographics: The end of “everyone needs to go to college”?
The labor shortage is a long-term trend, not a short-term problem. This shortage is caused by smaller cohorts of new young workers due to the collapse of the fertility rate.…
Public health: CDC says unintended consequence of lockdowns led to increase in Strep A, flu and RSV
CDC now thinks lockdowns and ineffective NPIs are the cause of today’s rise in Step A, flu and RSV cases (which started early this season but appear to have peaked…
Business, Economy: Government benefits programs exceed median income in several states
In 14 states, unemployment benefits and ACA subsidies for a family of four with two people not working amounts to an annualized equivalent of $80,000 a year in wages and…
Economy, Climate: The Four Pillars of Modern Civilization
Four materials rank highest on the scale of necessity, forming what I have called the four pillars of modern civilization: cement, steel, plastics, and ammonia are needed in larger quantities…
Follow up – No: “Inflation Forecasts Were Wrong Last Year. Should We Believe Them Now?”
Models making long range predictions are mostly wrong, all the time. Why do we give them any credence? Go back and look at worthless disease model projections: Economists misjudged how…
Demographics: Fertility rate decline and impact on state budgets
Process efficiency improvements and automation are essential to addressing this, but will states embrace real solutions? When the economy takes a downward turn, couples often temporarily put off having children.1…
Demographics: With low fertility rate leading to a labor shortage, immigration will become a big issue
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made some startling admissions last week about his immigration views: “We have a population that is not reproducing on its own with the same level…
Climate: Some nations must develop fossil fuel resources
Head is spinning African nations must be allowed to develop fossil fuel resources to help lift their people out of poverty, governments said at the COP27 climate talks in Egypt,…
Demographics, Economy: It’s a mystery why so few young workers
Economists are missing the elephant in the room: Where are all the missing workers? Well, it’s not workers in their prime who have kids and families. The share of workers…
Demographics, International: “Immigration Privilege” is Real
Most of us do not have an option of moving to another country – yet being “international” and globalized is a key attribute in today’s job market. Today, I saw…