News Story of the Day: the second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) in the United States was revised downwards from 1.2 percent to 1.1 percent. The news was bad timing because Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen hinted that a rate hike may happen in September because of a strong economy.
But should we really care about the GDP anymore?
Here is what the Mises Institute writes:
GDP purports to measure economic activity while largely divorcing itself from the quality, profitability, depth, breadth, improvement, advancement, and rationalization of goods and services provided.
For example, even if a ship — built at great expense — cruised without passengers, fished without success, or ferried without cargo; it nevertheless contributed to GDP. Profitable for investors or stranded in the sand; it added to GDP. Plying the seas or rusting into an orange honeycomb shell; the nation’s GDP grew.
Stated alternatively, GDP fails to accurately assess the value of goods and services provided or estimate a society’s standard of living. It is a ruler with irregular hash marks and a clock with erratic ticks.
Although serious economists tend to ignore the GDP, the mainstream media and politicians do not. So what will they say in regards to the tepid GDP growth?
Moreover, President Obama will be the only president in history without three percent economic growth throughout his entire tenure. Will the leftist media clamor over this fact?
Chart of the Day: Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told the audience at the central bank’s annual summer retreat in Wyoming that current economic conditions in the United States have strengthened the case for a rate hike. A lot of Fed officials are hinting that the U.S. central bank will raise rates as early as September. The market tends to think so to, according to this Bloomberg chart:
Illustration of the Day: the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) had a delightful cartoon earlier this week pertaining to life-saving drugs and the FDA. The FDA is a federal agency that hinders competition and destroys lives. The FDA is the reason why we are having the EpiPen conversation right now (SEE: Upset over EpiPen controversy? Blame the U.S. government, FDA). Here is the illustration:
Quote of the Day: the Mises Institute published a superb article written by Brittany Hunter, who explores the fact that millennials love socialism but also the products and services that the free market creates. Here is what she opines:
Yet, in spite of all of these aspects of the Millennial mindset, Millennials still claim to identify with socialism. Growing up in a post-cold war era has jaded our perception of what a pure welfare state really looks like. We have not grown up hearing first-hand accounts of the woes of socialism in the Cold War era. We are living in a technological world brought to us because of the free market’s perpetual triumph over socialism. However, we don’t understand history well enough to realize how fortunate we are to live in a society where the free market is allowed to flourish. Millennials see large unemployment statistics, a struggling economy, and high costs of living and attribute it to the very system that gave us our iPhones, Amazon, Spotify, and Netflix.
The problem at hand is not that too many Millennials are socialists; the problem is that too many Millennials don’t understand that in almost every aspect of their lives, they are capitalists. If Millennials truly want to dedicate themselves to the ideals of socialism, they will have to surrender their iPhones, their Amazon accounts, their Uber accounts, their craft beer, the hipster beard accessories, and pretty much every other aspect of their daily lives.
Video of the Day: in a hilarious video, the Washington Free Beacon takes a look at picklegate, a bit of controversy surrounding the clip of Hillary Clinton opening a jar of pickles. Many are suggesting that it was a fraudulent stunt because there was no popping sound. Although the video does show that Clinton’s honesty comes into question even when it comes to pickles, what people should really be looking at is how fake Clinton was throughout the entire interview with Jimmy Kimmel.
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