Bend It Like (Yogi) Berra

Nice analysis of soccer and it's lack of popularity in the US (hat tip to my friend Scott)...

Allen R. Sanderson, Bend It Like (Yogi) Berra: Library of Economics and Liberty: "Throughout the entire 2+ hour ordeal, I kept asking myself: Why would anyone waste good time or money watching this sport? Ignoring for a moment the lack of scoring, the ubiquitous flops that would make an NBA player jealous or incredulous, and 'unnatural acts' such as not being able to touch the ball with your hands or arms, I began to apply basic economic principles to the sport, and tried to understand why 6 billion people, including my graduate teaching assistants from Milan, Rio and Barcelona, seem to care passionately and a few hundred million, mainly in the United States, don't. "

The Skeptical Optimist: Trade deficit? Or trade surplus?

Great post from the Skeptical Optimist... read the whole thing and then read the research paper (don't worry... it's short and easy to read).

The Skeptical Optimist: Trade deficit? Or trade surplus?: "Ever wonder why economic doomsday hasn't arrived yet? I've been hearing that economic calamity or collapse is only a decade away - for at least the forty years I've been paying attention, anyway. Fifteen years ago was when I started looking at the other, more optimistic side of the argument (...the side that still never gets any airtime), and started finding the growth and prosperity arguments that predicted economic outcomes far better than the doomsday folks had.

Specifically, why hasn't the trade deficit cratered our economy and standard of living yet? Is all that survival gear, canned food, and bottled water we were supposed to sock away going to rot, while doomsday keeps us waiting, waiting, waiting? "

Hussman Weekly Commentary: Data Dependent

Hussman Funds - Weekly Market Comment: August 21, 2006 - Data Dependent: "Despite the market's reaction, the hope that inflation is slowing is hardly supported by the data. The 'great news' on the CPI wasn't even outside the bounds of rounding error, while the PPI figures were actually of significant concern. Sure, the prices of some volatile items like eggs and fish fell steeply, but the improvement in the PPI for 'finished goods' was overshadowed by continued pressure in the PPI for 'intermediate goods.' Here's the picture that concerns me.



Over the past year, consumer price inflation has clocked in at 4.15%. Producer price inflation (finished goods) has been a similar 4.12%. But if you look at intermediate goods, we're currently at an inflation rate of 8.83%. That's the most abrupt widening in the spread between intermediate and finished goods since the 1973-74 oil crisis. Moreover, if we look at points in history when prices for intermediate goods have outpaced prices for finished goods over a 6-month period, we've also seen, on average, an acceleration in the PPI finished goods inflation rate over the following 6 months."

Hussman Weekly Commentary:Premises & Implications

Yikes!!

Hussman Funds - Weekly Market Comment: August 7, 2006 - Premises & Implications: "In short, we should not be surprised to observe stagflation, falling stocks, weak profits, flat bonds, and a dollar crisis in the months ahead."