Marple’s Letter, which analyzed the Pacific Northwest economy for generations of business leaders, has succumbed. The final issue was dated March 6. The newsletter’s passing, a few weeks shy of its 64th anniversary, was due to declining circulation. Editor Jim Murez and Publisher Jon Anderson wrote that despite their best [continue reading . . . ]
I was asked to say a few words about Oregon’s economy at the PEMCO management forum that I addressed on President’s Day. In preparation, I worked up a few Oregon charts comparable to those I use for Washington’s economy. The contrasts are dramatic. The Great Recession and its aftermath cost [continue reading . . . ]
Amazon.com and Boeing dominated the business headlines in the Seattle area in 2012. Looks like we are in for more of the same in 2013. Eric Pryne of the Seattle Times, the go-to guy for news about Amazon’s gargantuan appetite for office space in the Seattle area, reported last week [continue reading . . . ]
Do Malthusian nightmares about the population explosion keep you up nights? Relax. Chill. We Americans (numbering 315 million) are having too few babies. Middle-class fertility has fallen to about 1.6, far below the replacement rate of 2.1. That means fewer workers to support your Social Security benefits. And the problem [continue reading . . . ]
I told a nephew the other day that I think the New York Times Science Section every Tuesday is reason enough to pay the newspaper’s monthly subscription price. The nephew had blogged movingly about his daily habit of reading newspaper obituaries. In our e-mail exchange, the nephew, Hank Greer, wrote, [continue reading . . . ]
I have four topics lined up for my stint on KUOW‘s Weekday program tomorrow. Sometimes the host sticks to the topics I suggest, some times not. Here are my bullet points: Dreamliner Blues: The grounding of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner is obviously at the top of everyone’s radar screen. I’m not [continue reading . . . ]
My friend James McCusker, tongue planted firmly in cheek, suggests that rather than just one trillion-dollar platinum coin as a solution to our debt-deficit-fiscal mess, we mint one worth $50,000 for each of us. That’s roughly 315 million shiny tokens. Poof! Our debt problem goes away. How do you plan [continue reading . . . ]
Don’t miss today’s New York Times obit of the 1986 Nobel laureate and George Mason University professor James M. Buchanan. Like everyone else, Buchanan taught, politicians tend to act in their own self-interest Courting voters at election time, for example, legislators will approve tax cuts and spending increases for projects [continue reading . . . ]
Three questions that we’ll know the answers to before 2013 is over: 1. Will Steve Ballmer remain in the driver’s seat at Microsoft? He’s been responsible for day-to-day operations for more than 14 years and CEO for a nice round dozen years. During his tenure, Microsoft has missed the boat [continue reading . . . ]
So we have just started Year 5 of N-ZIRP, the Fed’s near-zero-interest-rate policy, and it is working so well that the Fed will have to keep printing money. What’s wrong with this picture? In fact, despite a massive expansion of the Fed’s balance sheet, and some of the lowest interest [continue reading . . . ]
Skip the pricey drink and buy the stock. If you had put $1,000 into Starbucks stock at the end of March 2009, a few days following the bottom of the current stock-market cycle, you would be sitting on a gain of roughly five to one. No one can know whether [continue reading . . . ]
I’ve been working on some new charts that I will present to U.S. Bank customers in Bellingham Tuesday. I’m on a panel for the bank’s 23rd annual economic outlook forum. I plan on saying what I have said in this space and on KUOW’s air: Amazon.com’s hiring and building sprees [continue reading . . . ]