According to the Gallup organization, the average American planned to spend $830 on Christmas gifts last year, meaning that total nationwide spending on Christmas gifts was just over $200 billion. Economist Joel Waldfogel of the University of Minnesota has estimated that 10-30 percent of this was wasted as “deadweight loss.”

When you sit down for Thanksgiving dinner this month, one thing to give thanks for is how unbelievably inexpensive everyday goods are today.  A 20lb turkey today costs about $20, according to the USDA, and a gallon of milk costs $3.14.  People paid $0.49/lb for turkey and $1.00/gallon for milk in 1950.  Adjusted for inflation, people in 1950 were paying the equivalent of $98 for a 20lb turkey and $8.00 for a gallon of milk!

Over the last 50 years, General Motors lost more than half of its market share. The rank-and-file workers aren’t to blame for this. Instead, they were let down by their leadership.

In 2014, the Obama Administration announced plans to reinstate diplomatic relations with Cuba. President Obama then visited to Cuba in March 2016, which was the first visit of an American president to the island nation since Calvin Coolidge did so in 1928. The normalization of diplomatic relations and presidential visit come at a time when Raul Castro, the president of Cuba, is looking to liberalize the country’s stagnant economy.

The performance of Michigan’s economy, and in turn, Flint’s economy, remains largely tied to the performance of the national economy. Despite the decline of manufacturing employment that has occurred over the past 40 years, durable goods manufacturing (defined as the production of long-lasting goods such as appliances, automobiles and furniture) is disproportionately important to Michigan’s economy.