Paulitical Economy™ – Details, episodes & analysis

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Paulitical Economy™

Paul Musson

News

Frequency: 1 episode/8d. Total Eps: 40

A snapshot of what’s going on in the world’s economy.

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Data updated on 04/07/2026

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Post 327

Tuesday, August 5, 2025 • Duration 46:51

Starbucks is still seeing comparable store sales decline.
But a fourth leg of their business is growing quickly.
Chateau Lafite Rothschild is one of the world’s top wines.
- Its futures price is off 49% from its peak.
Another look at the three main ways in which policymakers created Canada’s housing affordability crisis.
- They thought the benefits would trickle down to the next generation.
  - Spoiler alert: they didn’t.
Carbon Dioxide emissions by country
- Who’s number one: USA, China or both?
Microsoft is growing like gangbusters.
- And a $10,000 investment in its shares in 1986 would have grown to a tidy sum today.
Facebook’s sales are also soaring.
- Its share price is up 54% over the last year.
More evidence of a two-tier economy with older industrial type businesses seeing sales declines:
- A quick look at tools.
Financial Ructions:
- You’re Fired
  - Trump comes out guns blazing after record-breaking downward jobs revisions.
    - Shoot first, ask questions later?
In our book review of The Way the World Works:
- Jude Wanniski looks at Keynesians and the Monetarists.
  - And how the decrease in the money supply in the early 1930s was warranted by a significant, policy-induced reduction in real output.

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Post 326

Wednesday, July 30, 2025 • Duration 45:05

General Motors has a long and interesting history.
- It has been hurt by tariffs, but sales did benefit as customers rushed to beat the tariffs.
Women are twice as likely to be raped in the UK and Sweden than they are in the US.
- And a hundred times more likely than in Japan.
Chipotle is a fast casual restaurant whose sales have been going in the wrong direction over the last year.
- A quick look back.
Americans are going to the movies a lot less than they were pre-COVID.
- Higher ticket prices are helping to offset some of the decline.
In Financial Ructions:
- We look at how since 1961, taxation in Canada has grown faster than any other form of expenditure.
  - Surprise, surprise.
- Then we look at how there is one thing in Canada that has grown faster than taxation.
  - And that is government spending.
- And no. Canada does not have more runway than other countries in terms of deficit spending and debt to GDP.
  - Runway implies no negative effects and from that perspective they all ran out of runway a long time ago.
    - All western economies are already suffering enormously from runaway government spending.
- And it’s getting worse.
In our book review of The Way the World Works,
- We look at how lower taxes contributed to the Roaring Twenties.
  - And how the tariff tax of Smoot Hawley helped end them.

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Post 325

Wednesday, July 23, 2025 • Duration 20:45

Prices in the US are rising with eggs leading the way.
- To the extents that tariffs are pushing up prices it should be a one-time hit.
  - Unless tariffs rise even further.
Core inflation in Japan is steadily rising.
Inflation in Canada is proving sticky.
In Financial Ructions:
- We look at longer-term rates which are rising.
  - This should lead to higher mortgage costs.
In our book review of The Way the World Works.
- JW introduces the Laffer Curve where at some point higher tax rates lead to lower tax revenues.
  - And how money blinds people with respect to how an economy truly functions.

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Post 324

Monday, July 14, 2025 • Duration 29:01

US booze companies see impact from tariffs.
- First positive and then negative.
Nike has not grown its sales for seven straight quarters.
- And just experienced its largest sales decline so far.
Cocoa bean prices are very volatile and near historic highs.
- A look at the world’s largest chocolate manufacturer.
Hershey sales are suffering.
- As is its profitability as the high cocoa bean price bite.
A look at how growth in household wealth is only partially a reflection of growth in capital being produced in the economy.
- And how the vast majority of wealth is held by the top 10%
In Financial Ructions:
- We zero in on the equities and mutual funds part of household wealth.
  - And try to get a sense of how much real wealth has been created since 1989.
    - Spoiler alert, a lot less than the headline numbers.
Book review:
- In our book review of The Way The World Works we look at two chapters:
  - In chapter 4 he looks at capital and reminds us that the increased capital production during wartime does not contribute to a flourishing economy.
  - In chapter 5 he looks at what leads to greater productivity and how well-intended government actions can detract from the wealth of society.

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Post 323

Tuesday, July 8, 2025 • Duration 42:02

Florida is one of the weakest housing markets in America.
- But prices are still sky-high compared to pre-COVID
Nationally, sellers outnumber buyers by half a million.
- Prices are falling in some areas, but even with prices falling many will remain priced out of the housing market.
America’s largest home builder’s sales are accelerating downward.
- The issue is affordability constraints, but it’s not about mortgage rates.
Tesla’s car deliveries fall for the second straight quarter.
- Robotaxi to the rescue?
The Canadian government has rescinded its proposed digital services tax.
- This is good news for Canadians.
US jobs numbers appear to be a mixed bag.
- But the number of government workers are finally falling.
Microsoft lays off more employees.
- But its share price continues to soar.
A look at the wealth of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and how he achieved it.
In Financial Ructions:
- Social Security in the US will be insolvent in 8 years.
  - And the cost of making it solvent has continued to increase as policymakers perpetually kick the can down the road.
    - Refusing to make tough but necessary decisions.
- A look at what has been influencing stock market valuations.
In our book review of the Way The World Works we look at the economic law of supply and demand and how things happen at the margin.
- And how the best political leaders don’t take criticism personally but rather as a way to understand the struggles of the electorate.

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Post 322

Tuesday, July 1, 2025 • Duration 25:55

Carnival continues to ride the wave of higher prices.
General Mills sales are declining
- But would be a lot worse if not for their pet business.
Yet, JM Smucker’s pet division had a double-digit sales decline.
- And a look back.
Airliner JetBlue is seeing declines in air travel.
- Its share price has been a 25-year disaster.
Student loan delinquencies in the US are soaring.
- And government workers have a sweet deal.
Insolvencies in Canada fell in April.
- We may finally be getting to a level that is less influenced by government.
Jobs growth in Canada has been nonexistent since January.
- The unemployment rate is the highest in 9 years.
No Financial Ructions this week.
In our book review of The Way the World Works, we look at the age-old issue of how much wealth should be redistributed.
- And the importance of relying on a sound system rather than hoping the right leader happens to come along.
- Low taxation, a strong currency and the rule of law lead to economic prosperity.
  - We’re currently moving in the wrong direction.

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Post 321

Monday, June 9, 2025 • Duration 39:35

Campbell’s Soup sales are back in positive territory.
- Restaurants getting so expensive people are eating more at home.
  - But not eating as many snacks.
Hudson’s Bay is being liquidated.
- But its brands will live on.
The percentage of first-time home buyers in the US has plummeted.
- It’s a result of deliberate policy.
The alcohol industry is still struggling.
- Brown Forman, maker of Jack Daniel’s, recently announced their results and they were met with plenty of booze.
  - Its share price is going down faster than shots of Jack Daniels at a Honky-Tonk line dance.
Home sales in the Toronto area are down more than a third from pre-COVID.
- Yet active listings are way up: over 40%.
Lululemon comparable store sales in the Americas have not grown for five straight quarters.
Procter & Gamble sales growth has been declining.
- And now its number of employees is following suit.
P&G competitor Kimberly Clark also saw sales weaken and are now in negative territory.
In Financial Ructions:
- We look at how real interest rates were distorted into negative territory for years by Ben Bernanke.
  - With other central banks following suit this was the start of the housing affordability crisis in many countries.
- Manufacturing has been contracting in the US for some time.
  - But prices are rising.
- Canadian banks may be getting nervous.
- Activist Treasury Issuance survives the change in government.
We start Chapter 1 of our book review of The Way the Economy Works: How Economies Fail – and Succeed by Jude Wanniski
- Government must be of the people and must be trusted.
  - Decadence only occurs when government goes its own way and in a direction different from that demanded by society.

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Post 320

Monday, June 2, 2025 • Duration 38:30

The producers of alcoholic beverages say that the health concerns related to alcohol consumption are exaggerated.
- I hope so.
Shoppers continue to flock to Costco.
- And investors to its common stock.
Target, not so much.
- Home furnishings sales are down over 8%.
In Financial Ructions:
- We look at a speech that John F. Kennedy made to the Economic Club of New York in 1962.
  - Income taxes were finally being cut.
- A look at how money is created in the US.
  - And no, the government does not spend it into existence.
- If the US does not increase the debt ceiling it is not at risk of defaulting on its debt obligations.
  - The only thing at risk is deficit spending.
- The great Thomas Sowell reminds us that it was FDR’s New Deals that extended the Great Depression.
Book Review
- I’m excited to start reviewing the first of two books on supply side economics.
  - This one by Jude Wanniski called The Way the Economy Works: How Economies Fail – and Succeed.
    - I review the Preface, but before getting into that we review the Bretton Woods system.

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Post 319

Episode 319

Monday, June 2, 2025 • Duration 51:08

Truck maker Paccar sales continue to fall.
Freight shipments in the US are still down.
A look at how tariffs impact trade: Lobsters.
Petrol cars may not be going the way of the Dodo in California after all.
Both Home Depot and Lowe’s broke eight quarter losing streaks at the end of 2024 with sales finally back in positive territory.
- It only lasted a quarter.
Inflation in Canada is rising again.
On an adjusted basis, Canada has lost jobs for two straight months.
- And the government artificially increased the unemployment numbers in order to boost unemployment benefits.
We dive into just how unaffordable a house is in Toronto.
In Financial Ructions:
- Things look like they’re unravelling in Japan.
  - Inflation is forcing the Bank of Japan’s hand on interest rates.
  - That’s what happens when you increase the monetary base at an annual rate of 14% over 14 years.
- Yes, longer-term rates are affected by central banks.
  - And not just through QE.
- We look at an FT opinion piece which says that efforts to improve liquidity in the US Treasury market could exacerbate the basis trade.
  - But don’t worry, the Fed will come to the rescue.
We finally finish our book review of The Great Depression.
- I actually found myself agreeing with a couple of the author’s comments.
- But don’t worry, I disagreed with most of what he had to say in the final chapter.

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Paulitical Economy™ – Details, episodes & analysis

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Paulitical Economy™ – Details, episodes & analysis

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