LAST YEAR US companies exported $120 billion of goods to China in 2018. Chinese companies exported $540 billion of goods to the USA in 2018. The current US-China trade war began with the implementation of tariffs on 7/06/18. (Source: Commerce Department) A LOST GENERATION The economy of Greece is projected to grow +2.4% in 2019 after growing +201% in 2018. If Greece’s economy continues to grow at an annual rate of +2% per year going forward, it will not recover back to its 2009 “pre-crisis” … [Read more...]

LAND OWNED The federal government owns about 640 million acres of land in the United States, about 28% of the total land area of 2.27 billion acres. It owns about 46 million acres in California alone, or 46% of that state’s total acreage. (Source: Wikipedia) EACH DAY Outlays by the US government during fiscal year 2008 were $2.98 trillion, i.e., $8.2 billion a day. Outlays by the US government during fiscal year 2018 were $4.11 trillion, i.e., $11.3 billion a day. (Source: Office of … [Read more...]

INTO TRASH CAN 61% of 600 human resource managers who were surveyed do not review the resumes of job applicants who are lacking 4-year college degrees. (Source: Harvard University) AGING POPULATION Between 1950 and 2018, the US population doubled from 159.1 million to 332.8 million while the number of Americans at least age 65 quadrupled from 12.8 million to 52.4 million. (Source: Social Security 2019 Trustees Report) IN THE RED NOW The Social Security Trust Fund paid out $853.5 billion … [Read more...]

MANY TRILLIONS The US economy was worth $21.1 trillion as of 3/31/19. The national debt was $22.0 trillion as of 3/31/19. The S&P 500 was worth $24.8 trillion as of 3/31/19. (Source: BTN Research) NO TAXES Last year, 60 of the Fortune 500 companies paid no taxes on $79 billion in corporate income. (Source: CBS News, April 12, 2019) PAYROLL Payroll has risen for 104 quarters in a row, and the economy has created more than 20 million jobs since the Great Recession ended in 2009. (Source: … [Read more...]

BABY BOOMERS Some 31% of baby boomers predict they will work past 70… but studies have found fewer than 10% actually do. (Source: Market Watch, April 10, 2019) ONE OUT OF FOUR 24% of the 535 members of Congress today are women, including 25 (out of 100) senators and 102 (out of 435) House members. (Source: Congress) AGAIN The US government has incurred a $691 billion deficit halfway through fiscal year 2019, i.e., as of 03/31/19, well on its way to an 18th consecutive year resulting in … [Read more...]

DOWNTURN The United States has been in a recession during just 83 months over the last 50 years, equal to 14% of the months during the last half century. (Source: National Bureau of Economic Research) A LOT IN A FEW Half of the net wealth created in the US stock market going back to 1926 was produced by just 90 publicly held companies. (Source: Hendrik Bessembinder, Arizona State University) IN JUST 10 YEARS The average cost of tuition, fees, room and board during the 2018-2019 school … [Read more...]

PAYCHECKS Despite 100 months of uninterrupted job growth in the U.S., 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. (Source: CNBC, April 10, 2019) DOLLAR BILLS In 2011, a typical dollar lasted for a little more than three years. But now, driven in part by out increasingly cashless world, now it lasts nearly eight. (Source: NPR, April 8, 2019) MADE UP OF The $57.8 trillion of projected spending outlays for the US government over the next 10 fiscal years (2020-2029) is split between 64% of … [Read more...]

LARGE IMPACT The 13 largest stocks in the S&P 500 make up 25% of the total stock market capitalization of the index as of the close of trading last Friday 4/05/19. Thus, 3% of the stocks in the index represent 25% of the total value of the index. The S&P 500 is a market-cap weighted index. (Source: S&P) HALF WORK, HALF DON’T 156.7 million Americans have full-time jobs today, 48% of our 328.7 million citizens. (Source: Department of Labor) UNPREPARED 58% of Americans have not … [Read more...]

TRILLIONS The US bond market (including treasury, municipal, corporate, mortgage and asset-backed debt) worth $43.0 trillion as of 12/31/18. The US stock market was worth $27.4 trillion as of 12/31/18. (Source: Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association) FUTURE PLANS 48% of households in America headed by individuals at least age 55 have no retirement savings, 26% have a defined contribution (DC) plan (e.g., 401(k) or IRA) but no defined benefit (DB) plan, and the remaining 26% … [Read more...]

FOUR-TO-ONE China had 15.2 million births in 2018, nearly 4 times the 3.9 million births in the United States last year. (Source: Census Bureau) DIFFERENT RULES The admission rate at Harvard for applications from the children of wealthy donors, alumni and faculty is 34%. The admission rate at Harvard for all other applications is 6%. (Source: Harvard University) BUYING AND SELLING The United States exported $2.5 trillion of goods and services in 2018, the largest total in history and up … [Read more...]

CONSTANT PRESSURE 23% of 3,462 American workers surveyed admit that they live “paycheck-to-paycheck” all the time. (Source: CareerBuilder) WAGES In the tax year 2015 (the latest data from the IRS), the top 50% of wage earners accounted for 97.2% of the total income tax paid. Meanwhile, the top 1% accounted for 39% of the total tax paid, while the top 0.1% represented 19.5%; the top 0.01% paid 8.7%, and the top 0.001%, 3.5%. (Source: CNBC, July 20, 2018) HOUSEHOLDS WITH MONEY A household … [Read more...]

COMING SOON? 10% of 281 economists surveyed in February 2019 believe the United States will be in a recession by 12/31/19. 42% of the group believes a recession will have started by 12/31/20. (Source: National Association for Business Economics) US AND THEM The Chinese economy grew by +6.6% in 2018, the lowest growth rate since 1990. The US economy grew by +2.9% in 2018, the best growth since 2005. (Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China, Commerce Department) WORTH  IT? The … [Read more...]

COOKIES! Girl Scout Cookies are an $800 million business which is more than the $675 million in Oreo sales in 2017 and more than Chips Ahoy and Milano Cookies combined. (Source: World Economic Forum, May 1, 2018) CHEMISTRY There are 118 elements on the periodic table and an iPhone contains about 75 of them. (Source: Gizmodo, March 6, 2019) NEW NUMBERS The 10-year budget proposal (for the fiscal years 2020-2029) that was released on 3/11/19 forecasts $49.0 trillion of tax receipts and … [Read more...]

A LOTS OF SENIORS By the year 2050, approximately a generation from today, 330 million Chinese will be over the age of 65. By comparison, there are 328 million Americans alive today. (Source: Census Bureau) EVERY DAY An estimated 10,400 Americans will turn 65 years old each day this year (2019). This group represents the 9th year of 19 years of “Baby Boomers” turning 65. An estimated 11,500 Americans will turn 65 years old each day in the year 2029. (Source: Government Accountability … [Read more...]

LESS FOREIGN BUYERS Foreign investors, led by China and Japan, held $6.2 trillion of US Treasury securities as of November 2018, just under 40% of total US Treasury debt. That’s the lowest percentage held by foreign investors in the last 15 years. (Source: Treasury Department) THE RICHEST FIVE PERCENT The top 5% of US taxpayers in the tax year 2016 (the latest year for which tax data has been released) made at least $197,651 of adjusted gross income (AGI), received 35% of all AGI nationwide … [Read more...]

STUDENT LOAN DEBT Americans 60 years or older owe $86 billion in student loan debt and because of this, in 2015, 40,000 of those over the age of 65 had funds garnished from their Social Security checks. (Source: The Wall Street Journal, February 2, 2019) NOT STOPPING 48% of working Americans surveyed in 2018 anticipate working past age 65, up from just 16% of workers who felt that way 30 years earlier. (Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute) ANOTHER OIL RECORD US field production … [Read more...]

SOME MAKE A LOT 5% of the 150.3 million tax returns filed for tax year 2016 reported adjusted gross income (AGI) of at least $200,000, received 35% of all AGI and paid 58% of all federal income tax. (Source: IRS) ESTATE TAXES An estimated 2.8 million Americans died in 2018. Of the 2.8 million deaths, an estimated 4,000 of those deceased individuals (i.e., 1 in every 700 deaths) died with an estate worth more $11.2 million, the minimum dollar amount that can be passed estate tax-free per … [Read more...]