Did The Stimulus Help?

The $64 trillion dollar question: did the vaunted stimulus package help the economy? The question is on everyone’s mind lately, especially since we hear two polar opposite characterizations of the issue. According to Keynesians and Democrats, the stimulus was a big help while according to Libertarians, Republicans and especially Tea Partiers, the stimulus was a giant “failure”. Clearly, one side is wrong, but which one?

Something seems wrong- European bank leverage COTD

Europe’s economic troubles seem to be fading recently. The Euro has strengthened somewhat and fears about a European banking crisis courtesy of Greece (and Portugal,  Italy, Ireland, and Spain too- “PIIGS” as they are collectively called) have subsided.

Chart of the Day (COTD): New Claims for Unemployment Insurance

New claims” or “initial claims” means new applications for unemployment insurance. This of course, is a fancy way of saying “newly unemployed” people and is a nearly real-time barometer of the job picture in the U.S. Without further delay, here is the chart:

Jobs situation worse than unemployment rate.

While most of the news on unemployment focuses on the unemployment rate, I’ve always found it easier to look at total civilian employment numbers in total and as a percent of the population when looking at the situation.

Corporate America- too leveraged?

I stumbled upon an article which commented on Corporate America’s current balance sheet. More specifically, it questioned whether America’s companies are taking on too much leverage. It prompted me to do some digging and seek a better understanding of the issue. It has been somewhat common knowledge that Americans (private individuals that is) have been paying down or defaulting on debt. That is lowing private debt ratios at the same time that State and Federal governments are borrowing more. We can see this in bank balance sheets too- in aggregate, total loans outstanding have decreased since the crisis began. Yet Corporate America is supposedly flush with cash, so the article makes me wonder if companies are over-leveraging, should we worry about their wherewithal to weather the next recession, slowdown or policy mistake?