Succinct Summation of Week’s Events 6.9.17
Succinct Summations for the week ending June
9th, 2017.
Positives:
1. ISM non-manufacturing came in at 56.9, at the upper range of the expected reading.
2. The MBA mortgage application purchase index rose a seasonally adjust 10% w/o/w, to the highest levels since May 2010.
3. Jobless claims fell from 248k to 242k, which is where the 4-week moving average is.
4. Bloomberg consumer comfort fell from 51.2 to a still strong 49.9
5. U.S. stocks hit an all-time high on Friday, before hitting some turbulence.
Negatives:
1.PMI services came in at a lower-than-expected 53.6.
2. Factory orders fell 0.2% in April.
3. Wholesale inventories fell 0.5% m/o/m.
4. Tech stocks experienced a significant intra-day pullback on Friday, with many falling more than 4%.
MIB: Daron Acemoglu, MIT Prof, Bates Medal Winner
Daron Acemoglu, is the Killian Professor of
Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the recipient of
numerous awards, including the 2005 John Bates Clark Medal, and is co-author
of Why
Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty.
He is a rock star among economics, and is
presently one of the most cited academic economists among his peers.
Acemoglu explains why institutions are the key
to a society’s economic success or failure. Institutions are some countries
tumble into dictatorship while others become robust democracies. The failings of
legal, educational, and governmental institutions is a substantial basis for the
expanding wealth/income inequality in America.
He disagrees with the default position of
economists that inequality reflects unequal human capital or productive
capabilities, and what people earn is commensurate with their contribution to
their employer. He believes this thesis is wrong due to the impact of both
technology and institutions.
All of the books Acemoglu references are here.
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