The Bureau of Economic Analysis will begin recognize spending on research and development. And, take another deep breath, it will begin counting investment in the creation of entertainment, literary and other artistic originals.
The bulls have been feeding on a host of good economic news and are licking their chops for more. Still, given the last five lousy years, many of us are watching the battered bears up in those trees, wondering whether they’re going to climb down soon and eat the market rally for lunch.
Reaction to my last column allowing that the advocates of a new single terminal at Kansas City International Airport might have a decent case was certainly bracing. Most of the more than 100 callers, emailers and kansascity.com commenters batted me roundly about. But many others allied themselves with the single-terminal advocates.
After fully hashing out pros and cons, Kansas Citians may want to stick with the old flame. To carry the day, new-airport advocates will have to heavily restack the deck of arguments in their favor. That’s what’s going to be required to toss over a 40-year love affair.
After the difficult conception of the Affordable Care Act, it’s not surprising it’s suffering a painful birth. Problems and potential problems are bedeviling administration officials trying to get the act up and running. Worse still, the more-worrisome wounds are or will be self-inflicted.
Survey shows a surprising trend that Kansas City is part of: Much of the growth in professional services is occurring outside the big metro areas of the Northeast, California and the upper Midwest.
In recessions, the conundrum of capitalism turns into a deadly economic vise. Cheapskate consumers won’t spend and stingy companies won’t pay. And vice versa. Call it a feature of the free enterprise system that everybody trying to do the best for themselves becomes self-defeating.
Some questions about the economy, interest rates, energy policy, gun control and more that will put everyone on the spot.
Despite recent stock market gains, the slack job market and conflicting numbers make it hard to gauge the economy’s health. Whatever the conflicting data lead you to think about the state of the overall economy, the real economy for most people centers on jobs.
