well, after an entertaining night of gop candidates, including the esteemed donald trump and the even more esteemed jeb bush countering each other, all in all it was a matter of charades.  it was nice entertainment put on by fox on prime time television nonetheless.  who won?  who really cares?  it’s like the preliminaries in a beauty pageant.  at this point, it’s mere dressing.

meanwhile, in more pertinent economic news, the u.s. economy has been on one heck of a freefall these past few days.  once at its peak of 18,000, it’s gone down to nearly 17,000 — just waiting on one more drop. the job rate is holding at 5.3% but at 5.3% is still too much.  people are still being laid off. the construction boom in recent months is bound to slow down in the near future as winter inches near.  where will the economy stand then?  certainly not on the backs of construction workers as there will be minimal jobs once winter is upon us.  maybe fix a few potholes here and there or downed telephone line, but that’s about it.

some people are suggesting boosting the minimum wage, and some companies already have.  but it will only temporarily boost the economy as inflation will eventually catch up with the people.  an artificial boost will have long-term ramifications on the u.s. economy.  yes, australia does have a high minimum wage, but the country is not all that big, the country is relatively homogenous and controls have been put in place.  it certainly won’t be that easy in the united states.

true, there has been increased spending, but again, it was a little bump.  most likely, some of the unemployed have taken upon themselves to start their own business and increased spending as a result.  the construction boom has also contributed to the recent spending bump. with that, comes the impending federal interest rate hike.  it may be too soon.

well, onto our morning coffee…