RefBan

Referral Banners

Yashi

Thursday, June 12, 2014

That's A Lot Of Swedish Meatballs

Sure, you love IKEA. But did you realize just how massive the company actually is?

no freaking way

19 Things You Never Knew About IKEA

There are more copies of the Ikea catalog printed each year than the Bible. IKEA, you've officially taken over our lives.

You might have missed...

From BuzzFeed Video...

This BuzzFeed email was sent to dwyld.kwu.yq4b5l8av2dw7@blogger.com | Unsubscribe

Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up to get BuzzFeed in your inbox

BuzzFeed, Inc. 200 Fifth Ave, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10010

Macro problems

View this email in your browser

The U.S. economy may have contracted more than originally estimated in the first quarter. New healthcare spending data suggests the economy may have shrunk as much as 2% (the original estimate was just slightly over 1%). However, a lot of that GDP drop was due to low inventory accumulation, says Peter Coy, and that's actually good news for next quarter, when firms will likely produce more to make up that inventory.

Goldman Sachs' top economist, Jan Hatzius, thinks that "the US economy is now growing at an above-trend pace", despite the drop in Q1 GDP. This is partially because Hatzius sees good things going on in the housing market, and sees a growing trend of millennials (finally!) moving out of their parents' houses and forming households. Joe Weisenthal agrees with Hatzius's conclusion, mostly, he says, because the credit markets are expanding. David Wessel tweets Macro Advisors' GDP tracking: -2.1% for the first quarter of 2014, but anticipating 3.7% for the second quarter.

A piece by Binyamin Appelbaum in the New York Times today looking at the broader picture suggests the economy is stagnating. Appelbaum quotes Larry Summers' April speech on secular stagnation — "A soft economy casts a substantial shadow forward onto the economy's future output and potential" — and generally concludes that the US economy is stuck in a period of slow growth.

Dean Baker says the economists quoted in Appelbaum's story seem confused. "If economists really have no clue about the economy, why do we waste good money on them?" he asks. He thinks economists need to be paying more attention to low productivity growth. It might be a long-term structural trend; on the other hand, "when the economy is weak and therefore not generating decent jobs, even highly educated workers end up taking low paying low productivity jobs … This leads to lower economy-wide productivity".

Jared Bernstein also has thoughts regarding the confusion in the Appelbaum piece. He says it's fairly clear that what we need is stimulus:

Investing in public infrastructure, helping the long-term unemployed with extended benefits or direct job creation, targeting the trade deficit to help our manufacturers, pressing on the fiscal and monetary accelerators—I know there are those who will disagree, but these are well-established and well-understood responses, or at least they used to be.

Speaking of fiscal stimulus: Eric Cantor lost his primary to Tea Party contender David Brat this week, making it even more likely there will be another debt ceiling standoff in Congress next year. — Shane Ferro

On to today's links:

Billionaire Whimsy
Tesla open sources its patents - Elon Musk

Primary Sources
Goldman's full World Cup report - Goldman Sachs
The Bank of England may raise rates "sooner than markets currently expect" - Mark Carney

Explained
David Brat's Christian economics - Kevin Roose

Please Update Your Records
Young people are not very interested in working for the government - WSJ

Incentives
The Justice Department takes a cut of mortgage settlements to pay for other investigations - Reuters

Click here to sign up for the email.

unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences 

 
Tweet
Share
Read Later

Business Today: Wall St. ends lower on concerns about Iraq

Click to View in Browser
06/12/2014
Reuters Election 2012 Daily round-up of the day's top news from the campaign trail, the White House and all the politics in between
Wall St. ends lower on concerns about Iraq
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday as concerns escalated about Iraq and after disappointing economic data on consumers and the labor market.
U.S. retail sales miss expectations, jobless claims rise
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales rose less than expected in May and first-time applications for jobless benefits increased last week, but the data did little to alter views the economy is regaining steam.
Intel loses court challenge against $1.4 billion EU fine
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Intel lost on Thursday its challenge against a record 1.06 billion euro ($1.44 billion) European Union fine handed down five years ago, as Europe's second highest court said regulators did not act too harshly.
Ford lowers fuel economy rating for six vehicles
DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co said on Thursday it was lowering the fuel economy ratings on six of its models, including a number of hybrids, and would reimburse owners for the difference.
Top BNP executive to go as talks on U.S. penalty gather pace
PARIS (Reuters) - The chief operating officer of BNP Paribas is to step down at the end of June and retire completely on Sept. 30, France's biggest bank announced on Thursday as talks with U.S. authorities over a potential $10 billion fine gathered pace.
Airbus takes flight with investors, media after order snub
NEW YORK/TOULOUSE (Reuters) - Europe's Airbus mounted a transatlantic charm offensive on Thursday to boost sales of the world's biggest jetliner, the A380, and shine the spotlight on its brand-new A350 - a day after its shares were hit by a record order cancellation.
Tesla Motors to share patents to spur electric car development
DETROIT (Reuters) - Tesla Motors Inc on Thursday said it would allow others to use its intellectual property in hopes of speeding up development of electric cars by all manufacturers.
Lululemon sees tough second-quarter, shares tumble
TORONTO, (Reuters) - Lululemon Athletica Inc offered little sign on Thursday that it was pulling out of an extended slump, cutting financial forecasts and warning that second-quarter sales at its once-trendy yogawear shops were off to a weak start.
Inherited IRAs in play for bankruptcy creditors: U.S. high court
(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday said inherited individual retirement accounts are not protected from creditors in bankruptcy, in a ruling that impacts one of the most popular ways to save for retirement.
Merck, Pfizer, HSBC could be big winners from shareholder case
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Within the next two weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule in a major case that could make it much harder for shareholders to band together against public companies in securities fraud class actions.
Related Video
The consumer will do better this year-IHS' Chris Christopher
Platinum mining strike - end in sight
Economic News
U.S. retail sales miss expectations, jobless claims rise
Fed plans to change bank stress tests calendar dates
SUBSCRIBE TO OTHER REUTERS NEWSLETTERS
Counterparties
A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. Register Today  
 Money
The latest Reuters articles on M&A, IPOs, private equity, hedge funds and regulatory updates delivered to your inbox each day. Register Today  
» MORE NEWSLETTERS
- 3 Times Square New York, NY 10036 USA © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters
Ensure delivery of Reuters Newsmails, add mail@nl.reuters.com to your address book. Details
Subscribe to other Reuters newsletters.
Unsubscribe from this newsletter.
Follow us on Twitter facebook Friend us on Facebook Forward this newsletter to a friend Forward to a friend

Yashi

Chitika