The Federal Reserve released the Beige Book today, which is a summary of their comments on economic conditions. The report contains information related to each district, and there is some information specific to North Dakota mentioned in the Book. I am just highlighting a few of the more notable elements here. The link to the full report is above.
Many times people asked me about the relative importance of the agriculture sector and the mining sector so I thought I would show some current data. Now the coal industry output remains almost the same over this time frame, so the oil sector is responsible for the growth. The data run from 2005Q1 to 2015Q3 and the lines display each sector as a share of total GDP (private and public sector).
Well the grading for Spring is done and Summer term started. So I will (hopefully) have more time to post. And what better place to start than with housing! Why? Mostly because I do not like to talk about it, but it seems that everyone wants to call into the Jarrod Thomas Show and talk about it. So let’s think about this issue again.
Continue reading ND Housing, Because I am sure JT Will Bring It Up
The radio discussion today focused on the importance of forecasts and the forecast process in decision-making, particularly budgeting. Most of this related to various aspects of the forecasting and budgeting process at the state level in North Dakota and how it impacts other entities like UND. There was also some appropriate trashing of the forecasters that gave such erroneous predictions and then decide the state is in recession. I discussed some data which I want to make available here. There is more that will be put online as I get it created.
Continue reading Biennial Revenue Comparisons (from Jarrod Thomas Show)
I know, I know. I say I don’t like to talk about housing and here is another post about housing. One of the reasons I dislike talking about housing is that so little of the debate is grounded in any fundamentals. It is a discussion of one person’s opinion about what should happen or how the world should be versus that of another. The one thing these people usually agree about is they don’t like my opinion. C’est la vie. Moving on…