Paulitical Economy™

Father’s Day trumps Mother’s Day.  Don’t shoot the messenger. Comparing Uber with Lyft.  I’ve started using Lyft more often. Canada’s youth are suffering from bad government policy.  While the country’s baby boomers benefit. A look at cash.  Most people still carry it but unfortunately its relevance is declining.  This is a really bad thing. An Op-Ed from former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.  Poin...

Clorox continues to struggle to grow its top line.  And its share price A look at real residential real estate price appreciation over the years in:  Canada U.S.A. China UK Costco sales are still soaring.  And a look at the profit model. Whirlpool's sales and share price are tanking.  Tariffs to the rescue.  And a look back at 1992. The US jobs numbers for April were weak.  But the headline n...

Home Depot is still experiencing slow growth due to consumer uncertainty and normal interest rates. Spirit Airlines goes bankrupt. No taxpayer rescue. Prices of Kimberly-Clark products are falling and volume is rising. There are many apologists out there for soaring home prices i.e. those who own houses. But no, increasing home sizes do not justify higher home prices. And home sizes have been fall...

The rate of crime in the US has fallen significantly. Homicide rate the lowest since the year 1900. Spirit Airlines has filed for bankruptcy protection: for the second time. Government meddling is making a bad situation worse. And a look back. UPS and Fedex are going in different directions in terms of their package volumes.  It’s because of Amazon. The quality of life in Canada is improving from...

Lululemon has not grown comparable store sales in the US for almost two years.  And we review a scathing attack from the company's founder. US home prices vs. income have increased over the last twenty-five years.  This, despite much lower mortgage rates.  Correction, because of much lower mortgage rates. Ski-Doo and Sea-Doo maker BRP has experienced strong sales growth of late.  But new tari...

Sales at Dollar General are slowly accelerating.  Even with discretionary items. But sales growth at Dollarama is ticking lower.  And we take a look back. Retail sales and the Special K economy.  The bottom 70% of income earners reduced their spending. But that was more than offset by increased spending from the top 30%. Luxury furniture retailer RH has had impressive sales growth, albeit slowing....

The construction of multifamily properties in the US has soared over the last few years. Resulting in higher vacancy rates and lower rents. European consumer products company Unilever got rid of its ice cream business last year. Now they’re bidding adieu to the rest of their food business. US confectionery company Mondelez has been rapidly increasing its prices to offset higher commodity costs. Vo...

Hello everyone, I hope you had a nice weekend.  Things are finally starting to warm up here in the Toronto area: it has been a long winter.  And now that we’re near the end of March the birds are making their way back north including the Toronto Blue Jays (as some of you know I’m a birdwatcher and baseball fan). Four more of my podcast interviews are now available for your viewing enjoyment. I was...

Homicides in the US are the lowest in 125 years. Canada’s economic decline has outpaced all other developed nations over the last ten years. And so has our happiness. I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore. California has by far the highest gasoline prices in America. And Kansas the lowest. Delta’s passenger revenue miles go negative. And economy class revenue even more so. And a look back....

Carnival Corporation is charging record prices. And a look back. A look at what and who caused Canada’s housing affordability crisis. And how housing affordability crises around the world have contributed to lowering the globe’s fertility rate. Construction of rental properties in Canada is soaring. And rents are falling. But construction of single-family detached homes has slowed. And an increasi...

An increasing number of homes listed for sale in Canada are vacant. A look at Canada’s poor record on economic growth. And sadly, it’s primarily self-inflicted. In Financial Ructions: More Canadians are starting new companies in the US than they are in Canada. This is a significant change over the last ten years. Book Review We continue our review of George Selgin’s great book False Dawn. One of t...

A Wall Street Journal article looks at how older Americans are significantly wealthier than the next generation. Spoiler alert, it’s a result of bad policy. As cocoa bean prices soared, chocolate consumption fell. Now it’s the bean prices that are falling and government imposed minimum prices are causing an inventory glut. Amazon sales continue to soar. Especially in web services. Inflation in the...

Eddie Bauer: Another retailer is going by the wayside. And a look back. For Canadians who file for insolvency, on average they owe money to over 10 different lenders. The Chart of the Century shows car prices in Canada going down 15% over a nine-year period. When in fact they actually increased 23% US jobs numbers are once again revised downwards. And Canada continues to struggle. Vancouver and To...

Pepsi has had 14 straight quarters of declining volume. Management springs into action. Despite beef prices rising more than 30% over the last two years, Tyson is losing hundreds of millions of dollars in its beef division. A look at the main causes of housing affordability crises. Spoiler alert, it’s distorted interest rates. Weight loss drug Wegovy-maker Novo Nordisk’s share price is losing weig...

Politics in the U.S. is significantly more divided than back in the 1950s/60s. But the country is not divided because of the politics. The politics is divided because of monetary policy. Dick’s Sporting Goods continues to have impressive sales growth. They have bought Foot Locker which had been struggling for some time.  French luxury goods company LVMH is still experiencing weak sales growth. Par...

Uber is experiencing uber sales and profit growth. By charging more and giving less. Pubs in the U.K. are banning some politicians from their establishments. It’s a tax revolt. Ranking airlines: Southwest in the U.S. has improved. But U.S. airlines score poorly on a global basis. Inflation in the U.S. remains firmly above the Fed’s arbitrarily set 2% confiscation rate. Coffee still soaring and egg...

Delta Airlines passenger revenue growth is barely in positive territory. But falling fast in economy class. Walmart takes to the air. In less than two years drones will be delivering to over 40 million Walmart customers. Saks Global files for bankruptcy protection. A look at the evolution of Canada’s housing affordability crisis. The Bank of Canada first handed the baton to municipal and then fede...

A look at how pension plans compare between the Canadian private and public sectors. Car prices in the U.S. and Canada have soared. And no, it’s not because of tariffs. Macy’s seems to be turning around its business. And more evidence of the Special K phenomenon. But not all luxury companies are benefiting, and Saks Global may be filing for bankruptcy protection. And we take a look back. Continuin...

The price of weight-loss drugs is plummeting. Used luxury watches are a multibillion dollar business. And so are fakes. TV watching via streaming has taken over. And YouTube leads the way. The percentage of American homeowners with a mortgage has been declining. But is due to a generational divide with the next generation’s monumental mortgage debt funding the retirement of mortgage-free Boomers....

Electric vehicle demand is a fraction of what auto manufacturers thought it would be. But government involvement helped to distort expectations. Ford takes a huge write-down. Coty is a leading cosmetics/fragrance company founded in Paris. Its sales are falling, but not as fast as its share price. And we take a look back at this interesting business. Do you know what a flacon is? We revisit how Soc...

Christmas with Andy Williams and the murder trial of his ex-wife. The US restaurant industry is seeing negative foot traffic.  This is what happens when inflation drives dining costs through the roof. However, after a rough patch in late 2024, Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants continues to generate decent sales growth. A quick, closer look at Costco Travel.  And great deals on car rentals too....

Lululemon continues to struggle in the US. While Costco continues to relentlessly drive sales higher. People continue to flock to RH for luxury furniture. But investors refuse to do likewise with the share price. The overall rejection rate for new credit applications is the highest in at least ten years. Almost half of mortgage refinance applications were rejected. Auto parts sales in the US conti...

I’m reposting my first and so far only Pollitical Economy (2023) which asked you for your favourite Christmas movie. Giving you some Christmas viewing ideas. Another look at Canada’s housing affordability crisis. It’s more widespread than people think. And how it’s predictably fueling anti-immigration attitudes. Netflix is shooting the lights out. And now they’re buying Warner Brothers. And a look...

Apple is a pretty impressive business founded by a very impressive entrepreneur. But its share price is way ahead of the business i.e. expensive. We take a look back. After many quarters of negative comparable store sales growth, Best Buy’s sales are actually accelerating. Strongest growth in over four years. Hewlitt-Packard adjusted sales have now grown for six straight quarters. And we take a lo...

Home Depot sales are once again weakening. They’re blaming a lack of hurricanes. Target department store sales are accelerating downwards. With discretionary items taking the biggest hit. Meanwhile, consumers are increasingly turning to off-price retailers such as TJ Maxx and Marshalls. Sales are accelerating upwards. Core inflation in Canada remains elevated. And I add some comments on the scanda...