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Americans have become lazy, argues economist Tyler Cowen. They don't start businesses as much as they once did. They don't move as often as they used to. And they live in neighborhoods that are about as segregated as they were in the 1960s. All of this is causing the U.S. to stagnate economically and politically, Cowen says in his new book: "The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream." Growth is far slower than it was in the 1960s, 70s and 80s and productivity is way down, despite everyone claiming they are working so hard. "Innovation is painful....

BADEN-BADEN, Germany — Governments need to do more to create growth that benefits everyone, and the U.S. should spend more on roads, highways, bridges and airports, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Friday. The body, which includes the world's better-off countries, said in a report that governments should focus on providing better access to high-quality education and supporting employment for women through measures like affordable child care. It also highlighted the need for more spending on infrastructure. OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria called for an "upskilling of the workforce" to address worker anxiety about the future of their jobs...

Are you tired of winning yet? Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss several issues, including the massive trade imbalance between the nations. Of course, he came out on top. It is being reported that Beijing is offering the Trump Administration greater market access to avoid an all-out trade war between the two powers. The Financial Times claims that these concessions are not all that difficult for Beijing. “At present, foreign investors cannot hold a majority stake in securities and insurance companies in China. The country’s largest companies in these sectors, such as Citic Securities and China Life...

Washington can be a tough place to read. Even so, there’s a policy debate at hand that I find puzzling. We have a new president who has boldly promised to create 25 million jobs over the next decade and a conservative Congress deeply concerned with reducing the tax burden on the American people and addressing the national debt. And yet there is a federal program on the books right now that answers all calls but faces possible expiration on the eve of the Trump administration’s 100-day mark. How could that be? The EB-5 program puts Americans to work. According to...

MEBANE – Lidl, a German grocery chain building stores in Eden and Danville, Va., will hold a public hiring event for its state-of-the-art, Alamance County regional headquarters and distribution center next week. The event will be held from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday, April 20 at Lid’ls newly constructed, $125 million facility, which will become operational later this year. The Lidl Distribution Center is located at 3815 Senator Ralph Scott Parkway, Mebane. Up to 150 logistics positions will become available at the site this year. Salaries for logistics associates will be up to $20 per hour, plus benefits, which can include...

President Donald Trump has picked an economic advisor who believes in growing the nation’s economy by importing workers and consumers, and by expanding free-trade outsourcing, despite Trump’s “buy American, hire American” campaign promises. Kevin Hassett is slated to become chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors if he is approved by the Senate’s banking committee. If Hassett is confirmed, that will be a win for the corporatist, business-first faction in Trump’s White House, which fights for influence in the Oval Office against the populist, America-first faction that helped Trump win the election in November.

“Drain the swamp.” It was one of President Trump’s most powerful messages on the way to victory. Shake up Washington. Break a few eggs to create a new omelet. Overturn the establishment. Well, hats off to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for doing some swamp-draining when he exercised the “nuclear option” to overturn the filibuster for Supreme Court justices. McConnell busted an old 19th century rule, which was never in the Constitution, and cleared the path for the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch -- as good a candidate as can be found. Good for McConnell. But let’s shift our swamp-draining focus...

Trump, Xi agree to 100-day plan to discuss trade issues U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed to a new 100-day plan for trade talks that will boost U.S. exports and reduce the United States' trade deficit with China, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Friday.

INDIANAPOLIS — Consumer electronics chain hhgregg Inc. is going out of business and shutting down all its stores. Founded in 1955, the retailer had 220 stores in 19 states selling major appliances like washers and TVs, as well as computers and home theater systems. As of May last year, it had about 5,000 employees. Just days before announcing its bankruptcy protection filing last month, hhgregg said it planned to trim down by closing three distribution centers and 88 stores. But the move was not enough to salvage the chain.

Illegal immigrants, and their children, cost Texans a net $12.36 billion a year. That works out to roughly $6,000 per alien. "Of this, $10.03 billion came out of taxpayer pockets. Given that Texas’s biennial budget for 2016-2017 was 209.4 billion this means that illegal immigrants eat up 9.6% of their budget ended up being spent spent on illegal immigrants. Let’s look at it another way: for every $9 Texas spends on its citizens, it spends $1 on illegal aliens."

New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits recorded their biggest drop in nearly two years last week, pointing to a further tightening in the labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits declined 25,000 to a seasonally adjusted 234,000 for the week ended April 1, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The drop was the largest since the week ending April 25, 2015. The prior week's data was revised to show 1,000 more applications received than previously reported. Claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a healthy labor market for 109 straight weeks. That is the longest stretch...

So I'm 'Negative Nancy' Eh? Stop the inane folks. Seriously, stop it. (Snip) Health Care including VA (which I exclude in my current postings) was $850 billion in 2012. Last fiscal was $1,417 billion or nearly a double in five years. That's the same acceleration in spending that has been going on since the 1980s. This cannot continue. It must stop now. I have been writing on this incessantly since 2007 here in The Market Ticker, been raising hell about this since I was an Internet CEO in the 1990s and been doing presentations on it to so-called Conservative groups...

Federal Reserve officials said the shedding of the $4.5 trillion in bonds the central bank is holding on its balance sheet will begin this year. The revelation came Wednesday from a summary of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting held in March, during which the group approved a quarter-point hike in its benchmark interest rate target. Officials at the meeting noted that the Fed likely is on a faster pace with rate hikes ahead. Unwinding the balance sheet is significant both because of its sheer size and the impact it could have on markets, as Fed members including Chair Janet...

Reporters used adjectives such as “torrid,” “solid,” “unexpected,” and “strong” to characterize March jobs growth of 263,000, as reported by ADP/Moody’s on Wednesday, which far exceeded professional economists’ estimates of 170,000 new jobs for the month. Last month Mark Zandi was uncharacteristically buoyant when commenting on February’s jobs numbers: “February was a very good month for workers. Powering job growth were the construction, mining and manufacturing industries.… Near record high job openings and record low layoffs underpin the entire market.” Today Zandi extended his comments as the jobs market continues its recovery: “Job growth is off to a strong start...

Bend, Ore. – Ibex Global, which employs about 500 people at a Bend call center, is planning to double that number this year, a company recruiter said Thursday. Ibex provides customer support for four brands that it declines to identify. Two are telecommunications companies; one is in motor sports, and one is a medical company, according to John Schweiter, lead recruiter for Ibex Global in Bend. Ibex Global, based in Washington, D.C., and formerly known in Bend as iSky, is a subsidiary of privately held TRG, based in Pakistan, said Rosemary Hanratty, Ibex senior director of marketing. According to news...

[The stream is slated to start at 12:30 p.m., ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] President Donald Trump is set to speak publicly for the second time Tuesday at the North American Building Trades Unions legislative conference. Trump will likely address his promises to boost American manufacturing and promote new infrastructure projects. In a town hall with CEOs earlier in the day, Trump touted his pledges to reduce regulations on businesses and encourage companies to make new investments in the United States....

President Donald Trump told chief executives of major companies on Tuesday that his administration is working on an infrastructure plan worth $1 trillion or maybe more. Trump told the audience that he wants to speed up permitting for road and bridge projects and that federal money wouldn’t go to projects that couldn’t be started within a month and a half....

Richmond Fed President Lacker says he was involved with Medley leak, announces immediate resignation Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker announced his immediate resignation Tuesday, admitting that he discussed sensitive information with an analyst regarding the Fed's plans for economic stimulus.

With the new US President’s anti-globalisation and anti-immigrants stance, those wishing to toil their way in to a US citizenship might find it hard in the near future. But money might buy you a rightful place under the US sun. This can be achieved with the help of the EB-5 program, that can get you permanent residency and eventually citizenship, provided you have a deep pocket. Many countries, including the UK, Australia and exotic locales such as Malta and Cyprus provide a channel to high networth individuals to obtain multiple citizenship if they invest specific sums or meet some criteria,...

Before you begin to mention the grandiose gains in the stock market since Obama took office, bear in mind a few things. 1. The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates to zero percent, making bonds and interest bearing accounts untenable for retirees, effectively forcing people into stocks. Also, the Fed's balance sheet went from ~$750b to $4.5t over that time frame -- rigging both equity, currency, and bond markets over Obama's entire 8 year term. {..snip..}