Showing posts with label Great Depression. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Great Depression. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 5

US Money Supply


It's been 90 years since M2 money supply has contracted by at least 2%.

Who needs a theme park when you have Wall Street. Over the trailing two years, we've watched the ageless Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), widely followed S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.12%), and growth-dominated Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC), roar to new all-time highs, plunge into a bear market, and regain their luster, once more. This short-term roller-coaster ride has new and tenured investors alike wondering what's next for Wall Street.

Although it's not an economic datapoint most investors would think of turning to for guidance, U.S. money supply may hold the answer as to what's next for stocks.

M2 money supply hasn't done this since the Great Depression
Though there are a few variations of money supply, most economists tend to focus on M1 and M2. The former takes into account cash and coins in circulation, as well as demand deposits in checking accounts and traveler's checks. In other words, money that's either in your hand or can be accessed very easily.

Meanwhile, M2 accounts for everything in M1 and adds savings accounts, money market funds, and certificates of deposit (CDs) below $100,000. It's money you have access to, but it takes a little extra effort to put this capital to work. It's M2 money supply that's raising eyebrows on Wall Street and making history.  READ MORE...

Saturday, January 22

History of Popcorn


Wednesday was National Popcorn Day, and what better way to celebrate than by learning about the history of the delicious snack?

According to The Popcorn Board, the oldest-known ears of corn that were popped are from about 4,000 years ago and were discovered in current-day New Mexico in 1948 and 1950.

Meanwhile, History.com reported in 2018 that there were traces of popcorn in 1,000-year-old Peruvian tombs.

Popcorn was also significant to the Aztec people for eating, ceremonies and decorations, according to The Popcorn Board.


Wednesday is National Popcorn Day. (iStock)

The snack became a common food in American households by the mid-1800s, according to History.com. Popcorn was popular for late-night snacks by the fire and at picnics, the website reported.

In the 1890s, Charles Cretors created the first popcorn-popping machine, and by 1900, he created a horse-drawn popcorn wagon, which led to mass consumption of the snack, History.com reported.

Popcorn didn’t hit movie theaters until the Great Depression, according to Smithsonian Magazine. In fact, the movie theaters that started selling popcorn were able to survive the Great Depression, while other movie theaters had to close because of poor sales.  READ MORE...

Tuesday, May 11

US Populations Slows

The United States population has slowed to its lowest rate since the 1930s, the Census Bureau said Monday.

Every ten years, the Census Bureau counts the country’s people. The total U.S. population is now 331,449,281. It is 7.4 percent more than ten years ago, but the second slowest increase ever. Experts say the slow rate is due to an older population, less immigration and the effects of the Great Recession. The 2008 economic crisis led many young adults to wait to get married and have families, which slowed the birthrate.

The only slower growth of the U.S. population growth was in the 1930s, during the Great Depression. The slow rate in the 2010s had a similar start because of the Great Recession and the long recovery that followed.

Demographers do not think population growth will pick up soon, and some believe growth may slow down even more. Americans are getting older — the median age in the U.S. is 38, up one year from 37 in 2010. Immigration had been decreasing, and the pandemic mostly ended it.

William Frey is a demographer with the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.  “Unlike the Great Depression, it’s part of a process where we’re likely to keep having slow growth,” Frey said.  A slowing population growth may create problems for the country’s future.

John Lettieri is the president of the Economic Innovation Group. He said that the U.S. now has more Americans aged 80 or older than 2 or younger.  “The big demographic advantage the U.S. once enjoyed over other rich nations has evaporated,” he wrote in a tweet.  TO READ MORE, CLICK HERE...