Deja Vu Corporate Debt

Distressed corporate debt (bonds whose yields are at least 10 points above Treasuries) have now reached the levels at the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis.   This is the direct result of the Federal Reserve's near-zero interest rates which, predictably, encouraged blind risk taking. What does the Fed plan to do this time?

Today's economics quiz

Today's economics quiz. Guess which of these three stores Walmart is closing?

The US IS Not Planning to Reduce It's Debt Burden. Ever.

It's official. The United States has no plans to reduce the burden of debt they have placed on the economy. They just plan to keep borrowing more and more and more until . . . ?

Employment Suicide in DC

Mark Perry points out that the results are pretty consistent now in all the jurisdiction that have adopted minimum wage employment-prevention legislation. The latest data is from Washington DC.




Now the same people who have adopted this employment suicide are angry that Walmart is downsizing their operations in DC.  But any semi-intelligent person (Yes, I understand this leaves out much of DC government) should have realized this would happen. Contrary to what Democrats wish, the primary objective is to earn a return on their shareholder's investment, not to provide jobs and benefits.


"Behind closed doors, Walmart officials were more frank about the reasons the company was downsizing. He said the company cited the District’s rising minimum wage, now at $11.50 an hour and possibly going to $15 an hour if a proposed ballot measure is successful in November. He also said a proposal for legislation requiring D.C. employers to pay into a fund for family and medical leave for employees, and another effort to require a minimum amount of hours for hourly workers were compounding costs and concerns for the retailer"

This the result of the District's perverse anti-employment policies is that there will be fewer jobs for the least skilled of DC residents and less access to low-price stores like Walmart.