It’s official: Millennials have surpassed baby boomers to become America’s largest living generation. Ebonie Johnson Cooper, left, and Meico Whitlock take a selfie while attending the Millennial Week opening reception at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery on June 2, 2014, in Washington. (Amanda Voisard for The Washington Post) The term “millennial” comes with many connotations. They like socialism. They don’t eat breakfast cereal. Now, they’re the largest living generation in the United States.
Pew Research Center broke down population estimates released this month by the U.S. By that definition, there are now 75.4 million living millennials, which is a half-million more than the 74.9 million living baby boomers, who were defined as anyone who was 51 to 69 years old in 2015. This, of course, was bound to happen. But the number of millennials is rising partly due to an influx of young immigrants, according to Pew. The generation’s population is expected to peak in 2036 with 81.1 million living members, when the oldest millennial is 56.
Morning Mix newsletter Please provide a valid email address. When Does it Pay to Take Social Security Early? Dear Savvy Senior, I will turn 62 in a few months and am trying to decide when to start taking my Social Security retirement benefits. Almost everything I read on this topic tells me it’s better to wait until my full retirement age or beyond. Is there ever a good reason to start early? Dear Ready, You’re right! Most financial planners agree that waiting to take your Social Security retirement benefits is a smart financial move. Why? Because each month you defer, from your 62nd birthday to your 70th, your monthly benefits grow. That adds up to around 6 to 8 percent higher payments for every year you delay. Yet despite the financial incentive to wait, most people (58 percent of men and 64 percent of women) claim their benefits before full retirement age, which is currently 66 for those born between 1943 and 1954. But speeding up the clock isn’t always a bad idea.
Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. The Rich Live Longer Everywhere. For the Poor, Geography Matters. A 3-D View of a Chart That Predicts The Economic Future: The Yield Curve. China just announced one of the largest single layoffs in history. Branko Milanovic looks at the big picture. During his dozen years as chief economist of the World Bank’s Research Department, he focused on making sense of the all-important economic question that many economists, paradoxically, seem uninterested in: How are people doing? It’s a deceptively difficult question. To answer it you must determine what you mean by “people.” The average person? The median household? The poorest of the poor? The 1%? Much also depends on the economic state of various countries and how living costs can be compared across nations. Set to be published next month (April 2016) Milanovic’s new book, Global Inequality, goes well beyond the narrative of rising inequality captured by French economist Thomas Piketty’s surprise 2014 best-seller, Capital in the Twenty-first Century.
QZ: Your book opens with this mind-blowing chart. But both the global super-rich and the middle class in the emerging markets, seen huge gains. Milanovic: This is about right. That’s a good thing. Federal Reserve’s Kashkari Says Banks ‘Still Too Big to Fail’ Photo WASHINGTON — During the 2008 financial crisis, Neel Kashkari worked tirelessly to save the nation’s largest banks. As a senior Treasury Department official in the George W. Bush and Obama administrations, he helped those banks grow larger than ever. On Tuesday, he said it was time to think about breaking them up. “I believe the biggest banks are still too big to fail and continue to pose a significant, ongoing risk to our economy,” Mr. He described the threat of another crisis that might force the government to bail out large banks, as it did in 2008, as a rare instance of a clear and preventable problem.
“The question is whether we as a county have the courage to actually take action now,” he said. Mr. “There are lines in your speech I can imagine a Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren saying,” David Wessel, a former journalist who moderated the Brookings event, told Mr. Mr. “If I’m not willing to stand up and share my concerns, then I wouldn’t be doing my job,” he said. Donald L. Mr. 'Narconomics': How The Drug Cartels Operate Like Wal-Mart And McDonald's. A Mexican soldier stands guard next to marijuana packages in Tijuana following the discovery of a tunnel under the U.S. -Mexico border in 2010. AFP/AFP/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption AFP/AFP/Getty Images A Mexican soldier stands guard next to marijuana packages in Tijuana following the discovery of a tunnel under the U.S.
-Mexico border in 2010. AFP/AFP/Getty Images When Tom Wainwright became the Mexico correspondent for The Economist in 2010, he found himself covering the country's biggest businesses, including the tequila trade, the oil industry and the commerce of illegal drugs. "I found that one week I'd be writing about the car business and the next week I'd be writing about the drugs business," Wainwright tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. During the three years he spent in Mexico and Central and South America, Wainwright discovered that the cartels that control the region's drug trade use business models that are surprisingly similar to those of big-box stores and franchises. Ban £50 notes to tackle crime, ex-bank chief says. Image copyright CaronB Central banks should stop issuing £50, $100 and €500 notes to tackle crime, according to a former bank boss.
The high-denomination notes are favoured by terrorists, drug lords and tax evaders, argues Peter Sands, former chief executive of Standard Chartered bank, in a new report. Illegal money flows exceed $2 trillion (£1.4 trillion) a year, Mr Sands said. Rather than focus on the criminals, his report argued G20 countries should now target the cash itself. Mr Sands, who produced the report for the Harvard Kennedy School, urged the world's 20 largest economies to take up the matter before their next summit in China in September. Image copyright Reuters High-value notes issued by rich countries are the "currency of corrupt elites, of crime of all sorts and of tax evasion", Mr Sands said. "They play little role in the functioning of the legitimate economy, yet a crucial role in the underground economy," he added.
Finland May Give All Citizens Basic Income of 800 Euros. Finland is planning to offer a national basic income to all of its citizens of 800 euros ($870) a month. The final proposal for the plan won’t be released until Nov. 2016, Quartz reports, but the new plan will replace existing benefit offerings. The goal of the new proposal is to curb unemployment by making it easier for residents to take low-paying jobs.
If it moves forward with the plan, the country will become the first to implement a universal basic income, according to Bloomberg. Polls suggest the plan is popular among the public, though as Quartz reports, it raises questions about how to hand out money to so many people and whether it will actually translate to better outcomes for citizens. Prime Minister Juha Sipila told the BBC, “For me, a basic income means simplifying the social security system.” [Quartz] Change in Dollar index before and after rate hikes. Edit in Datastream.
Society 'to be hit by climate change' Image copyright AFP Human societies will soon start to experience adverse effects from manmade climate change, a prominent economist has warned. Prof Richard Tol predicts the downsides of warming will outweigh the advantages with a global warming of 1.1C - which has nearly been reached already. Prof Tol is regarded by many campaigners as a climate "sceptic". He has previously highlighted the positive effects of CO2 in fertilising crops and forests. His work is widely cited by climate contrarians. "Most people would argue that slight warming is probably beneficial for human welfare on net, if you measure it in dollars, but more pronounced warming is probably a net negative," Prof Tol told the BBC Radio 4 series Changing Climate. Asked whether societies were at the point where the benefits start to be outweighed by consequences, he replied: "Yes.
But it is controversial for climate contrarians, who often cite Professor Tol's work to suggest that we shouldn't worry about warming. Warming feedback. BRICS era is over. LONDON (CNNMoney) —BRIC investing has officially fallen out of favor. Goldman Sachs' asset management business has killed off its BRIC fund, concluding that it would not "experience significant asset growth in the foreseeable future. " The powerful investment bank was the original champion of investing in Brazil, Russia, India and China, which became known as BRIC nations.
Goldman's former chairman Jim O'Neill coined the "BRIC" acronym in 2001 and brought the world's attention to strong growth potential in these large emerging markets. The acronym was later expanded to BRICS to include South Africa. However, the promise of BRIC countries has faded as Brazil's economy slumps, Russia struggles with low oil prices and international sanctions, and China's economy slows after previously posting double-digit growth figures. Goldman's BRIC fund was created in June 2006 and experienced wild swings during the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. Half of world's wealth now in hands of 1% of population – report | Money. Global inequality is growing, with half the world’s wealth now in the hands of just 1% of the population, according to a new report. The middle classes have been squeezed at the expense of the very rich, according to research by Credit Suisse, which also finds for the first time that there are more individuals in the middle classes in China – 109m – than the 92m in the US.
“Middle class wealth has grown at a slower pace than wealth at the top end,” said Tidjane Thiam, the chief executive of Credit Suisse. “This has reversed the pre-crisis trend which saw the share of middle-class wealth remaining fairly stable over time.” The report shows that a person needs only $3,210 (£2,100) to be in the wealthiest 50% of world citizens. Some $68,800 secures a place in the top 10%, while the top 1% have more than $759,900. About 3.4 bn people – just over 70% of the global adult population – have wealth of less than $10,000. “This is the latest evidence that extreme inequality is out of control. ELI5: The Trans-Pacific Partnership deal. Household Surveys Consumption and the Measurement of Poverty ESR June2003. Why New York is out and Nashville is in for real-estate investors.
Doing business is pricey in the largest U.S. metropolitan areas, which has prompted companies to consider locating in more affordable cities that have vibrant downtown neighborhoods, good public transit systems, walkability and culture, according to a new report. Residents may seek out these alternatives too, looking for a more reasonable cost of living. Goodbye, New York. Hello, Nashville! Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, Charlotte, Seattle, Atlanta, Denver and Nashville were the top cities (in that order) on a list of markets to watch in PricewaterhouseCoopers and Urban Land Institute’s annual “Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2016” report. These cities were followed by San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and Los Angeles. (New York City landed at No. 15.) The list was based on a survey of 1,800 real-estate investors, fund managers, developers, property companies, lenders, brokers, advisers and consultants who were asked where they’d allocate capital in the future.
Disregard the Dow Theory at your own peril. Courtesy Everett Collection One of the few hypotheses of Charles Dow’s Original Theory is that “the theory is not infallible.” Despite that disclaimer, the record over the 100-plus years of its existence is really quite exceptional. In my book “Dow Theory for the 21st Century, Technical Indicators for Improving Your Investment Results,” I calculated that the record of buying and selling whenever the theory produced “an indication of change,” better known as a buy or sell signal, outperformed a buy-and-hold approach by 1 to 2 percentage points a year. Not impressive, you say? With compounding over the years, the difference is huge. On Aug. 20, the Original Dow Theory reversed its January 2013 buy signal at 13,649 on the Dow Industrials, and gave a sell signal at 16,990 that was recognized by most people with an understanding of the theory.
Some saw the signal and chose not to follow it for various reasons. Counterpoint: The Dow Theory suggests stocks are about to tank, but it’s wrong. Proposal for Sustainable Development Goals. Open Working Group proposal for Sustainable Development Goals Introduction 1. The Rio+20 outcome document, The future we want, inter alia, set out a mandate to establish an Open Working Group to develop a set of sustainable development goals for consideration and appropriate action by the General Assembly at its 68th session. It also provided the basis for their conceptualization. The Rio outcome gave the mandate that the SDGs should be coherent with and integrated into the UN development agenda beyond 2015. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.
Sustainable Development Goals * Acknowledging that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the primary international, intergovernmental forum for negotiating the global response to climate change Sustainable Development Goals and targets Goal 1. 1.1 by 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day Goal 2. Goal 3. Goal 4. Goal 5. Finance. The SDGs are useless without economic growth The United Nations was founded on the noble ideas of promoting world peace and common humanity. For decades, these ideas have made the UN, established in 1945, a melting pot of “good intentions” and actions on how to make the world a better place.
However, the UN’s broad remit and inclusivity have also led to its tendency to create omnibus global agendas, which, in order to accommodate different interests, are often unwieldy, ambitious and even utopian. These words, I would argue, describe the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which were adopted by world leaders at the UN on September 26. The SDGs are loaded with good intentions, from ending poverty to saving life below water! The SDGs replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which came into existence in 2000 and lasted until September this year. But the MDGs had a modest ambition, captured in just eight goals and 21 targets. The SDGs, on the other hand, are far more ambitious, with 17 goals and 169 targets! Trans-Pacific free trade deal agreed. What is China’s 'new normal'? ‘Pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli and the very American debate over maximizing profit. The History Of Oil. Half of UK cash in black market or overseas, says Bank.
Ourworldindata_world-poverty-since-1820-in-absolute-numbers.png (PNG Image, 3000 × 2100 pixels) - Scaled (34%) How much $100 is really worth - July 2015. Quotes on the Greek economic crisis. End 'gross indignity', Greek FM Varoufakis tells Germany. Denmark, Deutschland and deflation: strange times for EU. ECB unveils massive QE boost for eurozone. The Cheapest Generation - Derek Thompson and Jordan Weissmann. What are negative interest rates? Swiss National Bank will cut interest rate to minus 0.25% Obama's economy in 17 charts. The Map and the Territory, by Alan Greenspan. Which country has the highest tax rate? Davos 2014: Google's Schmidt warning on jobs. Economic ladder no harder to climb today, U.S. report finds - Business. Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 - Results. Imagine a world without shops or factories.
Map: How the world’s countries compare on income inequality (the U.S. ranks below Nigeria) The typical American household is richer than 93 percent of the world. Why are Americans giving up their citizenship? Spanish public debt reaches record level. Spaniards are less productive, constantly tired because Spain is in the wrong time zone. The case for open borders. Dumb moves that sound smart: Buying a house. Poverty significantly saps our mental abilities say researchers.
How Does All Your Stuff Get to You? Inside the Shipping Industry. Distance to the Scaling Law: A Useful Approach for Unveiling Relationships between Crime and Urban Metrics. The Charitable-Industrial Complex. IMF Admits Mistakes on Greece Bailout. World Bank: Migrants send over $414B home. Can a country 'die'? Where the Jobs for the Young Are and Aren't.
Russian bank chiefs take aim at US dollar. Reinhart, Rogoff... and Herndon: The student who caught out the profs. Meet the 28-year-old Student Who Exposed Two Harvard Professors Whose Shoddy Research Drove Global Austerity. UN paper on Sustainable Development. US income inequality at record high. How to see into the future. Map of Billionaires - 2013. The Economist's Big Mac Index, a Meaty Guide for Traveling on the Cheap. Is the US in denial over its $14tn debt? BBC Radio 4 - Analysis, Is America Doomed? Please note that this is BBC copyright and may not be reproduced or copied for any other purpose - 27_06_11.pdf. Has quantitative easing helped the US economy? Joseph Stiglitz: Innovation should focus on quality of life, not just productivity. Why it pays to live near creative people — just not too many. Oil and Gas Pricing. Here are the most and least expensive states to live in the U.S. - Capitol Report.
Global Public Downbeat about Economy. Economics and Politics by Paul Krugman - The Conscience of a Liberal - NYTimes.com. Krugman’s Four Dangerous Fiscal Fables | The Exchange.