Forums: Growth Hormone

Wanna See A Bullish Forecast For The US? Check THIS Out Vincent Fernando, CFA Jul. 28, 2010, 11:36 AM The Milken Institute just released their latest U.S. economic outlook and it's shockingly more bullish than most forecasters, even at the brokers. The think tank expects U.S. GDP to grow to exceed 3% not just this year, but in 2011 and 2012 as well. More importantly, they expect substantial employment growth, and this is an integral part of their analysis. Milken Institute: Despite the formidable obstacles in its path, the U.S. economy remains flexible and resilient—and right now, it has more...

Productivity growth is strong, monetary policy is easy, inventories are thin and corporate profits are growing. There have been three distinct, and very diverse, sets of economic forecasts circulating in the past year. First, the end of the world forecast--call it, Depression II. Second, the "new normal" forecast of weak and anemic growth. And third, our expectation of a V-shaped recovery and relatively strong 4% real gross domestic product growth. With GDP scheduled for release next week, our estimate for annualized second- quarter real GDP growth is 3.5%. This is a significant reduction from our 5.5% forecast (made back in...

Did you know there are nine states that have no state income tax? The non-income-tax states (see accompanying chart) are geographically and economically diverse, ranging from the state of Washington in the Pacific Northwest, to Texas and Florida in the South, and up to New Hampshire in the Northeast. Why is it that some of the states with the biggest fiscal problems have the highest individual state income tax rates, such as New York and California, while some of the states with the least fiscal problems have no state income tax at all? High-tax advocates will argue that the high-tax...

America is struggling with a sputtering economy and high unemployment — but times are booming for Washington’s governing class. The massive expansion of government under President Barack Obama has basically guaranteed a robust job market for policy professionals, regulators and contractors for years to come. The housing market, boosted by the large number of high-income earners in the area, many working in politics and government, is easily outpacing the markets in most of the country. And there are few signs of economic distress in hotels, restaurants or stores in the D.C. metro area. As a result, there is a yawning...