Recession Over?

The National Bureau of Economic Research said that the recession is officially over. Since the economy began expanding at the end of June 2009, the recession officially ended in the 3rd quarter of  2009. But what about unemployment? It is painfully high at 9.6% with still more then 14 mil people unemployed.

The unemployment rates tends to be a lagging indicator as can be seen from the graphs below. With the economic growth rate slowing down from its peak at the end of Dec 2009, will that result in further increase in the unemployment rate?

Data Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics  

If Only The Queen Was Indian?

Uninsured in America

Several provisions of the new healthcare law also called the Affordable Care Act went into effect yesterday. Yesterday also was the day when the GOP unveiled its Pledge for America. The document included proposals to cut spending and taxes, a staple. In addition it also included a proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act. In case you haven't noticed, we are in an election cycle and each side will spend the next few weeks touting or assailing the new healthcare law.

But politics aside, the reality is that number of uninsured has been on a steady rise for the last decade. For the first time last year it crossed the 50 million mark. Now there can be debate about whether all the 50 million are legal residents or not. But that's besides the point. The number of uninsured has risen in almost every age group (except the under 18), as the graph below shows, and the recession has made it worse.

Data Source: US Census Bureau

State of the US Economy

The 2010 budget depicted below reinforces the fiscal disaster that the US is facing. About 92% of all the estimated revenue in 2010 from taxes and other sources goes towards paying for mandatory services like Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid and Interest on debt. The remaining 8% of the revenue must pay for the cost of the wars and must fund the other departments.

No wonder the US national debt ballooning every second because the government is borrowing to cover the shortfall. The last I checked, the debt per US Citizen was $43,473. Compare this to the median household income of $49,777 for year 2009.

Data Source: Wikipedia

Interesting Reads for the Day

Last weeks New Yorker had two pretty interesting articles. One was a profile on Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook.

The other was is a profile on Sir James Dyson of the Dyson Vaccum fame.

Healthcare Spending and Quality of Care

When it comes to healthcare spending, the United States leads the developed countries in terms of amount of money spent on Healthcare. If we look at Healthcare spending as a % of GDP among the developed countries, the United States is the highest with Health Care spending accounting for 15% of GDP.

For all the spending associated with Healthcare, the US ranks 37th in the most recent WHO rankings. Though the rankings methodology might have its shortcomings, given the complexity of ranking a national healthcare system, the US has been slipping in ranking in other indicators or public health including male and female life expectancy and infant mortality. 

Data Source: CATO Institute 

Worst Companies in America

Who do you think would qualify for one of the worst companies in America as ranked by the American Customer Service Index

There are the usual suspects in the airlines. How can you have a worst company list without the cell phone companies or the cable company? In the year when anything with a bank or a banker is hated, you would expect banks to be on the list.

But there are a few surprises as well. Did anybody guess that Facebook and Myspace would on the list? How about McDonalds?

If you want to know the American Consumer Satisfaction index for a company that you do business with, you can visit the ACSI website for the scores.

The Growing Income Inequality

Slate magazine is running a series on the growing income inequality in America. Its worth a read. The slide show on the growing income inequality is especially great.

The income share graph below, obtained from this slide show, depicts the growing income divide between the rich and the poor.

Sources: Congressional Budget Office, Census Bureau. 
Chart by Catherine Mulbrandon of VisualizingEconomics.com.

Cricket - The Gentleman's Game No More

The most recent allegations of spot fixing (certain aspects of the game are fixed rather then the game itself) against three cricketers from Pakistan have just scratched the surface of what many had suspected. Big money changes hands every-time a bowl is bowled or a run is scored.

There was a time not too long ago, when cricket was played for the love of the game and money and fame were an afterthought. But now it feels like the opposite is true. Fame and fortune are all that matter.

Harsha Bhogle captures this very essence in his article for cricinfo. He writes

India's new generation of cricketers is not just wealthy beyond imagination, they seem to have acquired it without a lot to show for it. I do not know if these young men are looking 10 years into the future, acquiring a work ethic that their solidly brought-up seniors possessed. They seem satiated, two years at the top seems to drain them; the BMW seems more alluring than the sustained effort of a 10-year career. For those that don't want a place in history, the low-hanging fruit can come from many sources.

Whats in a Name?

We have gone from Bombay to Mumbai, Calcutta to Kolkata and Madras to Chennai. Now we have "Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Nagar" to a growing list of name changes.

The honorable Chief Minister of UP Ms Mayawati has won a political victory when the Supreme Court of India decided to favor her in allowing Amethi to be renamed as Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Nagar

Makes you wonder where our politicians and courts spend their time and valuable tax payer money.