The US auto parts industry is the second most important industry after the auto manufacturing industry. Direct employment by auto parts suppliers was over 907,000 in 2019. When indirect jobs are included the total reached out 4.8 million jobs in that year according to a report by Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association. Mid-western states have the …

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Innovation is key to a thriving economy. In today’s globalized world, innovation differentiates winners from losers. Technological innovation is especially important since technology drives the most successful economies. For example, Alphabet(GOOG), Apple(AAPL), Facebook(FB), Amazon(AMZN), Netflix(NFLX), etc. are all highly respected and successful tech powerhouses. One thing that is common to these firms is constant innovation. …

Continue reading ‘As Costs of New Technologies Fall, Adoption Rates Accelerate’ »

Wage growth for the average workers in the US has been artificially suppressed over the past few decades due to a variety of reasons. However worker productivity has continued to rise year after year. According to EPI, the average worker would be earning $10 more per hour if wage growth kept up with productivity. Since …

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Inflation is rising in the U.S. Last week we learned that inflation shot up to 4.2% in April, the highest since 2008. Inflation can be considered as the stealth tax since it sneaks up on people when most are not looking or paying attention – usually in small increments. Inflation also reduces the purchasing power …

Continue reading ‘Price Changes in the US – Jan, 1997 to Dec, 2017’ »

In the US, states and local governments collected $1,303 per capita in individual income taxes for fiscal year 2018 according to Tax Foundation. However tax collections vary widely between the states as shown in the chart below. The states with top per capita tax collections are: New York, the District of Columbia, Connecticut, Maryland, California and …

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