Testing

Posted on 20 July 2019 by eehines

Boeing is going to be unable to return its 737MAX to commercial flight before 2020; the current latest guess is January, and that’s likely to slip.

Fixing the Boeing Co 737 MAX’s hazardous flight-control software and completing other steps to start carrying passengers is likely to stretch into 2020, an increasing number of government and industry officials say, even as the company strives to get its jet back into service still this year.
The situation remains fluid, no firm timeline has been established and Boeing still has to satisfy US regulators that it has answered all outstanding safety questions.
…
Boeing executives, FAA engineers, and international aviation regulators have steadily expanded their safety analyses to cover a growing list of issues spanning everything from emergency recovery procedures to potentially suspect electronic components.

This is a preview of Testing. Read the full post (363 words, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)

Campaign Spending vs Intake

Posted on 19 July 2019 by eehines

Progressive-Democratic Party Presidential candidates are spending more money than they’re collecting through campaign donations.

Eleven of the Democratic presidential campaigns, including former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper spent more than they raised in the most recent three months.
…
How quickly the 24 Democratic contenders are burning through cash seven months ahead of the first primary caucuses and elections is as important as how much they are bringing in.

Of course, they have to in order to stay/get competitive in the race.

This is a preview of Campaign Spending vs Intake. Read the full post (161 words, estimated 39 secs reading time)

Much Ado

Posted on 18 July 2019 by eehines

…is being made about the People’s Republic of China’s slowing economic growth rate.

The Chinese economy has suffered a loss of momentum in the second quarter, with the GDP falling to 6.2% from a 6.4% expansion in the first three months of the year, figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.

This is the slowest growth rate in 27 years, goes the alarm. That’s supposed to apply pressure to the PRC to start negotiating seriously with the US on trade. In truth, it does add some pressure, but it’s necessary to keep in mind a couple of other things, too.

This is a preview of Much Ado. Read the full post (316 words, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)

Another Venue for Private Education

Posted on 17 July 2019 by eehines

In a piece about Amazon.com’s decision to drop $700 million on retraining/educating its work force, The Wall Street Journal‘s editors closed with this forlorn hope:

And dare to dream, maybe colleges will cut their prices to compete with Amazon U.

Sad to say, it is a dream: colleges have no need to compete, and so have no interest in cutting prices, as long as the Federal and State governments keep throwing money at them.

Watch, instead, the hue and cry from the Left to develop in opposition to Amazon’s (and others—dare I hope?) schooling, just as they actively oppose existing competition in K-12, the charter and voucher schools that put to shame the public schools.

This is a preview of Another Venue for Private Education. Read the full post (149 words, estimated 36 secs reading time)

A Thought on Huawei

Posted on 17 July 2019 by eehines

John Hemmings made some interesting and critical points about the “security” (my metaphoric quotes) of Huawei equipment. In doing so, he cited a study by Finite State, a cyber-security organization that looks deeply into the Internet of Things and resulting vulnerabilities—an IoT of which Huawei is aiming to be a central part (as well as a central part of national communications and defense systems and of governments). Finite State’s analysis investigated “more than 1.5 million files embedded in 9,936 firmware images supporting 558 different products within [Huawei’s] enterprise networking product lines.”

Hemmings’ points center on these:

This is a preview of A Thought on Huawei. Read the full post (440 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

A Continued Power Grab

Posted on 16 July 2019 by eehines

The People’s Republic of China objects to the sale of defensive weapons to the Republic of China.

China will sanction US firms that participate in arms sales to Taiwan [The Wall Street Journal‘s conflation of the island with the nation that sits on the island], after Washington approved sales of $2.2 billion in tanks, missiles and related military hardware, Beijing said.

The PRC’s Foreign Ministry has justified the threat with this:

the arms sales “harmed China’s sovereignty and national security”

This is a preview of A Continued Power Grab. Read the full post (225 words, estimated 54 secs reading time)

A Thought on Tariffs

Posted on 15 July 2019 by eehines

The tariffs as used by President Donald Trump are viewed by many as having no impact on our overall trade deficit, and much is made of Trump’s disdain for trade deficits.

Thirty months into the Trump Presidency, the US economy continues to import more than it exports. This isn’t a problem, since the trade deficit is of no great consequence as an economic measure. But in President Trump’s telling this is a clear and present danger….

Suppose something else, though.

This is a preview of A Thought on Tariffs. Read the full post (334 words, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

Progressive-Democrats’ Minimum Wage Push

Posted on 11 July 2019 by eehines

Progressive-Democrats want to raise the national minimum wage to $15/hr. Here are some back of the envelope numbers that could result.

The CBO says that the new minimum would cost 1.3 million Americans their jobs (in the optimistic scenario; their more pessimistic scenario had 3.7 million Americans put out of work): their current wage would go from $10.10/hr (CBO’s 2014 minimum wage which formed the core of their that-year outcome analysis) to $0.00/hr. The CBO also says that the $15/hr minimum wage would lift 1.3 million American workers out of poverty.

This is a preview of Progressive-Democrats’ Minimum Wage Push. Read the full post (334 words, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

Economic Misunderstanding

Posted on 10 July 2019 by eehines

The broad Keynesian misunderstanding regarding government spending is continuing.

Spending by consumers and businesses are the most important drivers of economic growth, but in recent years, government outlays have played a bigger role in supporting the economy.
The level of the federal component of GDP in the first quarter of 2019 was $78 billion, or 0.4%, lower than what forecasters expected it would be following the February 2018 budget deal….
The government is spending much less on disaster relief than it did in fiscal 2017, and a partial shutdown temporarily stalled outlays in January. Those factors explain about one-third of the missing stimulus, Mr [Ernie, an Evercore ISI economist] Tedeschi said.

This is a preview of Economic Misunderstanding. Read the full post (415 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

Starbucks Fail

Posted on 9 July 2019 by eehines

A Starbucks in Tempe, AZ, had one of its baristas ask five police officers who were having a pre-shift coffee either go sit somewhere else or leave altogether because one customer felt “threatened” over their being where the customer could see them.

In the hoo-raw ensuing, Starbucks spokesman Reggie Borges said

We have a deep respect for the Tempe Police and their service to the community.

That’s plainly not true. If Starbucks really cared, if it had any actual respect for the police—much less a shred of self-respect—it would have had a better-trained crew of baristas who wouldn’t knee-jerk insult cops over a snowflake’s made-up beef.

This is a preview of Starbucks Fail. Read the full post (315 words, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)

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Category Archives: political economy