As part of the undergraduate population analysis class we obviously took a look at fertility calculations. I brought in some data for the class to look at after consulting a bit about which states to choose. A big theme had been social norms and behaviors and how they can, can mind you, show up in data about fertility.
Continue reading Total Fertility Rate in Select States (from class)
I tire of the political arguments in either side of this specific issue when I think a fundamental economic issue gets little attention. Those called the “left” oppose this happening at any price. Those on the “right” want the leases available but tend to think the price should be low for unintelligible reasons.
The Federal Reserve seems likely to continue raising rates into the foreseeable future making it a likely candidate for the ire of President Trump. The irony is that the President’s own trade policies likely make the Fed take actions to increase rates.
Continue reading Trade Policy, Fed Policy, and North Dakota
So an ongoing project that is taking a significant amount of my time (and thus taking time away from blogging) is executing a full population projection for North Dakota for the next 50 years. There seem to be some special issues when looking at the state level, for a small population state.
Continue reading Population Projection for ND
Perhaps the most amazing aspect of the seemingly imminent demise of Sears (story at the link below) is that this is the company that pioneered selling from a distance. The Sears Catalog was an iconic product making Sears a household name across the country in both rural and urban areas.