The Ceiling, Inflation (again), a lot of bits & pieces, the U. of Chicago and Cedar House
This week in the Economy
Any week that ends with a deal on the debt ceiling is a good week. That’s great good news.
Details to follow once it gets signed. I hope that won’t be an issue.
Aside from that, the PCE index went… up. Ugh. That is the personal consumption expenditures index; I guess we just need to take smaller portions.
The problem is that the cost of the smaller portions keeps going stubbornly up.
The PCE index is similar to the PCI – personal consumption index.
This past week, the core PCE index showed an increase of 4.7%, up from the previous month’s 4.6%.
The PCE has never been as high as the PCI because it is calculated differently, including costs paid for by third parties on behalf of the consumer and costs of items in rural areas.
The PCI focuses on costs in urban areas.
The PCE includes prescription drugs paid for by health insurers; that’s the third-party segment.
The key number this coming week is the ADP employment number on Wednesday.
Last month, ADP added 296,000 jobs. Expectations are for 180,000 for May.
The June meeting for the fed is June 13 & 14.
Bits & Pieces
Demographics
This is usually something looked at by university sociology professors. It probably still is, but…
According to the 2020 census, and comparing it to 2010:
The USA grew older, faster.
The number of children declined.
The number of people over 100 went from 53,000 to over 80,000.
My own mother-in-law turns a very healthy 97 in two weeks.
And over the last census decade, the US grew at the slowest rate ever recorded.
There was a spurt for 2022, with 1,010,923 immigrants coming in and 245,080 added by natural growth, bringing the growth rate to 0.4%.
Still pretty low.
Is this anything for us to worry about? Not really; just know that your customer base and decision-makers are aging.
It’s more of a problem for the next 3 generations.
Some perspective
You can fit the entire population of the world – the whole planet – into Texas and everyone would have 950 square feet to call their own. Yes, I can think of a number of snarky bullet points to add to this, but I am staying on task.
Why did I choose Texas? Because the next best example would be Zambia for my 1000 sf/person target, but I’m guessing most of my readers have a better idea of the size of Texas than the size of Zambia.
At any rate, 950 square feet is about the size of a two-bed, two-bath residence.
A family of five could have a 4,750 sf house.
My point is, It’s a big planet with a lot of open space. Many people think of it as overcrowded.
Not really. Although Texas certainly would be.
As the world population starts decreasing in 2100, the “carbon problem” kind of takes care of itself, doesn’t it?
Make some side cash…
Per the Kiplinger Tax Letter, the proceeds from a personal residence that is rented out 14 days or less in a year are non-taxable and are not reported on your tax return, no matter the rent charged.
You just have to trust folks with your personal stuff when they come to stay.
And the money is tax free!
2FA
No, that is not an offshoot of the 4H Club.
It stands for Two Factor Authentication.
That is when you sign in/sign on, and you are prompted for a second level of authentication, such as a text message to your phone or an email for you to respond to.
This should be standard for your company and for you personally.
You should also check your bank accounts every day.
You can also set up texts whenever a certain amount leaves your account.
Just trying to keep your money yours.
How much is a football team worth?
$6 billion. The Washington Commanders were bought by a group that includes Magic Johnson and the owner of the 76’s and Devils. My guess is that parking at all three sports is going up.
But the Bud Light is on sale…
Two New Models at Tesla
There really aren’t any details because that’s Elon’s way.
Let’s look at the current models: S, 3, X, Y. Or S3XY.
I’m not sure how you improve on that.
Putting your money in offshore accounts
With the takeover by the FDIC of Silicon Valley Bank, all depositors with accounts at SVB were made whole.
But what if your funds were not in a United States domiciled account? Funny you should ask.
As it turns out, the FDIC took the deposits of SVB’s Cayman Islands branch and informed those depositors that they would be treated as general unsecured creditors in the receivership.
Evidently, they were all Chinese venture capital and equity investment firms. In the Cayman Islands? That’s a different level of banking for me.
The bank’s foreign deposits were not covered by U.S Deposit insurance.
Sucks to be them.
Please get in line and file a claim.
Who was Robert Zimmer?
He was the president of the University of Chicago and an ardent supporter of free speech. He passed away this past month.
In 2014, he appointed a committee on freedom of expression.
A real committee, not just a coffee klatch that nodded their heads a lot.
They drafted the Chicago Principles, which stated, in part:
“Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called ‘trigger warnings’, we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual safe spaces where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.”
That was in 2014. Did we have that problem then? I guess so.
By the way, there is a tangent to that statement that I learned when I was about 8 years old:
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me.”
Giving to a Good Cause…
On Friday, June 16, Cedar House Life Change Center will host a golf tournament to raise funds for their various addiction programs in Bloomington. This is a non-profit that I have been part of for about 10 years, and they do phenomenal work. If you haven’t supported a non-profit this year, this is a good one to start with. If you already have, another one isn’t going to hurt. Click on the links above to help out.
It’s the start of the Summer Selling Season. More on that next week.
By the way, If you enjoy the content of this email, please forward it to someone you feel will enjoy it also.
Have a good week!
