Economy Update

It is another interesting week for geo-political events. Investors are focusing on corporate earnings that are coming in at fairly strong. This week I found an article that provides an update on the economy. At the end is a section called This Really Happened.


Economic Update:

Global economic growth, as measured by industrial production, accelerated significantly through 2013. Year-over-year growth in global industrial production slowed to just 0.7% in February 2013. By February 2014, it was up to 3.7%. This acceleration was due almost exclusively to recoveries from the November 2012 cyclical troughs in Europe and Japan. These recoveries more than offset a deceleration in China. Growth neither accelerated nor decelerated significantly in the rest of the world.

The only region where growth might still be accelerating is North America. Industrial production in U.S. manufacturing has grown at a 4.2% annual rate since last July, versus a 1.7% rate over the prior 12 months. While the second quarter’s 6.7% annualized quarterly growth rate was partly a temporary rebound from the first quarter’s weather-depressed levels, some of the recent strength reflects the ongoing replacement of a very old vehicle fleet and the continued boost in economic activity from increased U.S. natural gas production. Growth has also accelerated in Mexico, reflecting both increased motor vehicle production for the U.S. market and an improving policy environment. Industrial production in Mexican manufacturing, which was up just 0.4% year-over-year in December 2013 (based on seasonally adjusted data), was up 4.8% in May 2014. Unfortunately, the acceleration in North America is being largely offset by outright declines in industrial production in Brazil and Argentina, leaving the “stabilization” theme intact globally.


This Really Happened

When his .38 caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach, CA the would-be robber, James Elliot, did something that can only inspire wonder.  He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.  Good-bye Mr. Elliot.

After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped from his bus.  Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride.  He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies.  The deception was not discovered for three days.

When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle, WA street by suck-ing on a hose, he got much more than he bargained for.  Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to the motor home near spilled sewage.  A police spokesperson said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline, but he plugged his siphon hose into the motor home’s sewage tank by mistake.