60 Years later
National Geographic has recently produced a 3-part documentary on JFK, One Day in America. I give it high marks and it is available to stream on Hulu or Sling. I decided to do some research on the 1960 election results. Kennedy won the EC easily, but the popular vote only slightly. Despite being a civil rights advocate he carried the South. Notice that Nixon took the more liberal Pacific coast states. How the political landscape has changed,
Economic Update
The Post Pandemic economic surge should not have been unexpected (pardon the double negative). The demand which was suppressed during COVID has been unleashed. Supply and inventories which were curtailed were not prepared for the surge. As a result, prices rose along with inflation. GPD increased significantly by 9.2 percent, or $2.15 trillion, in 2022 to a level of $25.46 trillion, compared with an increase of 10.7 percent, or $2.25 trillion, in 2021. You might ask, isn’t this good? Actually no. Most of the increase was inflation driven When these numbers are adjusted for inflation they are reduced by 8 – 9%. A steady 2 – 4% growth in “real” GDP is healthy. To combat inflation the Fed has no choice but to take measures to limit the money supply by raising interest rates with the hopes that borrowing will decline. It’s a tricky game the Fed plays hoping to reign in inflation without creating a recession.
Petrol taxes in the US vs Europe
We have done quite a bit of traveling overseas in the past 3 years and are always amazed at how much higher petrol is. We have seen prices in the $6 – $8 per gallon range. The other thing we noticed is how much new and nicer all of the road infrastructure is. I decided to do a bit of research and discovered that most of the difference in the price lies in taxes. To my mind, this makes sense as it charges the users for repair and maintenance. In our country, the tax charged only covers a small portion of what is required and we rely on funds from both Federal and State budgets for the remainder. I suppose this accounts for the decline in the condition of our road infrastructure. Which system do you think is fairer and works better?