ECONOMICS

By Mish Shedlock of MishTalk

For the 10th consecutive year, Illinois lost population. Only West Virginia was worse.

Illinois Population Drops 10 Consecutive Years

The Illinois Policy Institute reports 10th Consecutive Year of Population Decline.

Expecting Change is Madness

Anyone who thinks Illinois will change is delusional. The only escape from Illinois madness is by leaving Illinois. Just don’t go to states equally bad if not worse, especially California, (more…)

In many ways, the engine of global economic growth is hidden in plain sight.

Family-owned businesses, which make up 90% of global enterprises, have driven job creation and entrepreneurship over history. While the majority of these are mom-and-pop shops, some of the world’s largest companies, from Walmart to Ford, are family-run.

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, shows the economic influence of family businesses in select countries, with analysis (more…)

The last few months have been volatile – to say the least – for US durable goods orders, November saw orders surge 5.4% MoM – the biggest monthly jump since July 2020. This sent year-over-year orders growth up 10.1% – the highest since May 2022…

Source: Bloomberg

The headline orders print was more than double the +2.3% MoM expected and Ex-Transports, durable goods orders jumped 0.5% MoM (+0.1% exp).

The surge in orders was primarily based on non-defense aircraft & (more…)