U.S. Consumer Price Index Increased by 0.27% in October

The seasonally adjusted U.S. CPI-U increased by 0.27% in October, but it dropped by 0.23% compared to its level from October of last year. This index reached a maximum at 218.675 in September 2008 and a minimum at 211.577 in December 2008. It has been growing since last May.

U.S. Producer Price Index Grew 0.3% in October

U.S. seasonally adjusted producer prices―finished goods (PPI) increased 0.3% in October; the average of the PPI in October over the period 2002-2007 is 0.57%.  From October 2008 to October 2009, U.S. seasonally adjusted PPI dropped by 1.9%.  PPI reached a maximum at 183.4 in July 2008 and a minimum at 169.5 in March 2009; it has been growing since then. It reached 174.2 (preliminary figure) in October 2009.

Budget Problems?

In recent weeks, there has been a heated debate over the 2010 budget in Mexico.  Every analyst points to the non-sense of the Mexican budget, especially in terms of the mismatch of revenues against expenditure.  Regarding this issue, here is a quote:  
“The country faces a fundamental disconnect between the services the people expect the government to provide, particularly in the form of benefits for older Americans, and the tax revenues that people are willing to send to the government to finance those services. That fundamental disconnect will have to be addressed in some way if the budget is to be placed on a sustainable course.”
These statements are not from a Mexican analyst nor it refers to Mexico; they are from Douglas Elmendorf, the director of the Congressional Budget Office. http://cboblog.cbo.gov/?p=423

"DRUG WARS"

"Drug Wars" is the next topic to be covered in the 2009-2010 IBC Keynote Speaker Series, see attached flyer.

Mexico's Consumer Confidence Index

Mexico's Consumer Confidence Index leveled at 77.0 in October, down from 81.9 in September. It is the lowest level during 2009 and reflects both (i) that more consumers consider that they are worse off today than a year ago, and (ii) that fewer consumers expect that economic conditions will.improve over the following 12 months, as all five partial indicators dropped in October compared to September levels. I expect that the drop in consumer confidence is overstated by resentment due to the manner that both the House and the Senate are handling the 2010 budget.

Is the US economy back in a recovery phase?

According to BEA’s “advance” estimate, the economy grew at an annual rate of 3.5% during 2009 Q3, up from the observed annual growth rate of -0.7% in 2009 Q2. Yet, the unemployment rate grew over the second quarter, from 9.5% in June to 9.8% in September. In addition, BLS just announced that the unemployment rate during October increased to 10.2%.  Would someone call this a "jobless recovery"?

FOMC voted to keep federal funds interest rate within the 0-0.25 target range

Call for Papers: CSWHT 15th Annual Conference (April 14-16, 2010)

Laredo... Wide Open for Business

Blogging Economic Issues / Temas Economicos

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