Macro Briefing: 7 September 2017

Hurricane Irma batters Caribbean on way to Florida: Bloomberg
Trump and Dems agree to temporarily delay gov’t-shutdown risk: Politico
China’s willing to impose more sanctions on North Korea: Reuters
Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer announces he’s leaving in October: Reuters
ISM Non-Mfg. Index rebounds in August after 11-month low: NY Times
US Services PMI rise to 21-month high for August: IHS Markit
Global economy grows at strongest pace in over 2 years: IHS Markit
Mfg orders slide in Germany for July, surprising analysts: MarketWatch
US mortgage refi applications jump to 11-week high: Reuters
GDPNow’s revised US Q3 GDP forecast at 2.9% vs. Q2’s 3.0%: Atlanta Fed

Macro Briefing: 6 September 2017

“Extremely dangerous” Hurricane Irma threatens Florida: WaPo
US factory orders disappoint in July but business spending perks up: Reuters
Fed’s Brainard: Low inflation may slow rate hikes: MarketWatch
Fed’s Kashkari says rate hikes doing “harm” to US economy: Bloomberg
Trump’s DACA immigration decision to bite US economy by $400 billion: CNBC
Wall St. Q3 GDP survey for Sep. 5 ticks down to +2.7%: CNBC
US credit downgrade by Moody’s looms if Treasury misses payments: The Hill
10yr Treasury yield falls below 2.10% to a 10-month low: MarketWatch
US stock market tumbles the most in nearly 3 weeks: NY Times

Book Bits | 2 September 2017

Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy
By Tim Harford
Q&A with author via Smithsonian.com
Q: So what made you decide to write a book looking at the modern economy through specific inventions?
A: I think it was a slight sense of frustration. I’m an economist, and economics often feels abstract and very impersonal, even though I don’t think it’s abstract or impersonal. As an economics writer, I’m also looking for a way to tell a good story and get some ideas across. I realized if I produced a kind of technological history with lots of ideas and examples I could teach some economics lessons through these very specific stories.
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