Tuesday's assorted links

Lumber, income stability, recessions, anti-recessions, and food waste

Jadrian Wooten

Jun 7, 2022

Hi, y’all! Here are my favorite stories from the past week:

Lumber prices plunge as wood inventories start to pile up
A survey finds that 1/3 of Americans making over $250,000 per year report living paycheck-to-paycheck
The majority of Republicans, and a plurality of Democrats, say they believe the US is currently in "an economic recession"
In response to #3, Claudia Sahm writes about why we aren’t in a recession, nor is one inevitable
In an effort to combat food waste, bars and restaurants in Spain will be required to offer take-out containers without a fee

Leave a comment

Thank you for reading Monday Morning Economist. This post is public so feel free to share it.

Yesterday I wrote about a recent controversy in Las Vegas where chapel owners who offer Elvis-themed weddings are being told to cease and desist:

Monday Morning Economist

The Vegas Wedding Industry Is Getting All Shook Up

Elvis Presley died almost 45 years ago, but the company in charge of the King’s image and likeness has started cracking down on the unlicensed use of the Elvis persona. Up first are the Las Vegas chapels that advertise and perform Elvis-themed weddings. Authentic Brands Group (ABG) is responsible for licensing Elvis-related merchandise and is also…

a year ago · Jadrian Wooten

Week 22 is over and I’m up to 19 books for the year. After a couple of weeks with no finished books, I’m happy to report that I finally finished some that I was in the middle of reading. I told you about The Inside Game a couple of weeks ago, but I also finished book 2 of a dystopian fiction series known as the Unwind series. I had been searching for a new fiction series and came across this one a couple of weeks back. It has an interesting plotline and is a quick page-turner. If you like The Hunger Games or Divergent, you may also enjoy this series.

2 Comments

Brian O'Roark

Jun 9, 2022

Interestingly, CNBC posted the response to a survey about recession expectations. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/09/recession-will-hit-in-first-half-2023-the-dow-is-headed-lower-cfos.html. Most of them agree with Claudia Sahm that we aren't in a recession, but one is coming. Do you know of any research indicating that, similar to inflation expectations, recession expectations can have detrimental economic effects?

Expand full comment

Jun 8, 2022

Unwind was really, really good. Have you read any other Neil Schusterman? Schythe is outstanding, although the final book is a disappointment. "The Schwa was here" is incredibly clever. My favorite of his was "Challenger Deep". If you're looking for more books to read, any and all of these are fantastic.