From the WTO, via the Economist, Germany was the biggest exporter in 2007, shipping out $1.3 trillion dollars in goods. China and the US were second and third, with all three countires account for 25% of all world trade. On the downside, the US is the largest importer with close to $2.0 trillion in goods coming into the country.
Source:
'Shipping Out', by Econmoist.com
The IRS will begin sending out the Economic Stimulus payments one week early. The plan is to get $50 billion dollars into the US economy by the end of May, with another $50 billion by the end of June. The money will be available just in time for summer vacations and gasoline prices at $4.00 a gallon.
Check out the stimulus payment calculator on this post.
Source:
'US to start sending tax rebates Monday:Paulson' , by David Lawder, Reuters
The NY Times has a great interactive feature on executive compensation in relation to the company's stock price and change in net income.
The feature was part of a special report on executive pay, and how shareholders have been fighting to keep compensation in line by tying it into stock or company performance.
'The compensation research firm Equilar recently compiled data about chief executive pay at 200 companies that filed their proxies by March 28 and had revenues of at least $6.5 billion. (The data) shows that average compensation for chief executives who had held the job at least two years rose 5 percent in 2007, to $11.2 million. '
Source:
'A Brighter Spotlight, Yet the Pay Rises', by Claudia H Deutsch, NY Times
'Executive Pay: The Bottom Line for Those at the Top', NY Times
With the election season in full swing, the plight of the middle class America has taken center stage. The past decade has not been a great for the middle class in America with the continued loss of jobs, the technology stock crash, the mortgage bubble popping, inflation, lack of affordable health care and stagnant wages.
The American worker's salary has not kept up with the rising cost of living. Between 2000 and 2006, the average family's income dropped 4.0%, while inflation increased by 17%. What cost a dollar in 2000, would now cost $1.17. However if you look at the cost of some basic items that a family uses on a daily basis, these prices increased at a faster rate than the overall inflation rate. A pound of ground beef has increased in price by almost 40% while a gallon of gasoline has increased by almost 80%.
Below is a graphic from an article in the WSJ about the middle class, and specifically about their roll in deciding the Pennsylvania Democratic primary. This is an issue not just isolated to Pennsylvania, but across the states. 'In a recent Pew Research Center survey, 41% of respondents rated their lives as better than five years ago, and 31% said they were worse. That response is even glummer than in 1979, when, amid rising economic malaise, 25% of respondents to a similar survey rated their lives as worse.'
Expect to the politicos to focus on this through November.
Source:
'Trapped in the Middle', by Justin Lanhart and Kelly Evans, WSJ {$$$}
April 23 of 2008 is Tax Freedom Day. This means that it took Americans about four months of work to make enough money to pay their tax obligations (federal, state & local) for the year. We achieved freedom three days earlier than last year due to the economic slow down and the stimulus package.
Source:
'America Celebrates Tax Freedom Day', by Tax Foundation, taxfoundation.org
'Special Report No 160', by Gerald Prante and Sctoo A Hodge, Tax Foundation
