Category Archives: Business

Demographic Death Spiral

No, not of people this time, of businesses:

More businesses are failing now than are being created, a first for the American economy since the Carter era, according to a new study by the Brookings Institution. That has become even more true during the Obama “recovery” than during the Great Recession.

Also:

Another nugget in that Brookings paper: “older and larger businesses are doing better relative to younger and smaller ones”

The younger and smaller ones don’t have the financial resources to buy (or, actually) rent the grifters and grafters in DC.

[Update a couple minutes later]

This is probably related; how bad is the job market for 2014 grads? This bad:

Today’s crop of new B.A.s are staring at roughly 8.5 percent unemployment, 16.8 percent underemployment. Close to half of those who land work won’t immediately find a job that requires their degree, and for those stuck in that situation, there are fewer “good” jobs to go around. Welcome to adulthood, class of 2014.

A lot of them wasted borrowed money on their degrees, loans that are currently not dischargeable in bankruptcy. So they have that going for them, too.

Soylent

A New Yorker reporter gives it a try.

I haven’t read the whole thing yet.

[A while later]

OK, I did read it. I was amused to learn that he was hawking it at my own local Whole Foods. One concern I have is his use of seed oils. Canola has too much omega 6 for my health. I’d use olive instead, though it costs more. If you don’t use virgin, though, it doesn’t have to cost that much.