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May 2, 2026 

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CAVEAT EMPTOR: A handy little latin term meaning to "let the buyer beware." It's a warning to buyers that sellers will try to extract a high price for low-quality stuff, and a heed that every hardworking consumer of the third estate should take. If you find you've been "taken", note that government has established consumer protection guidelines that businesses are legally compelled to follow. As such, you can seek action through the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Product Safety Commission, your state attorney general, and in all likelihood your local police department.

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State of the ECONOMY
Production/Income
Real average weekly earnings November 2016 $367.50 Bureau of Labor Statistics Constant 1982-84 dollars
Median weekly earnings Third Quarter 2016 $827 / week Up $24 from 3rd Qtr. 2015
GDP: Real Third Quarter 2016 $18,675.3 Billion (Annual Rate) Source: BEA Up 5.0%
U.S. Exports November 2016 $185.8 billion Down 0.2% from Oct. 2016: Econ. Stat. Admin.
e-commerce sales 3rd Quarter 2016 $101.3 billion Up 4.0% from 2nd Quarter 2016 US Census Bureau
Personal Income November 2016 $16,233.8 billion Up 0.1% from Oct. 2016
U.S. Imports November 2016 $231.1 billion Up 1.1% from Oct. 2016: Econ. & Stat. Admin.
Private Employer Cost for Employee Compensation September 2016 $32.27 per hour Benefits are $10.73 / hour Source: BLS
Sales of New Single-Family Homes November 2016 592,000 (seasonal adjusted annual rate) Up % from October 2016 Source: Econ Stats Adm.
Productivity 3rd Quarter 2016 Unchanged from a year ago Source: BLS
Real Average Hourly Earnings November 2016 $10.68 Up $.07 from November 2015
Employment
U 3 Unemployment December 2016 4.7% Up from November Bureau of Labor Statistics
U.S. Job Openings October 2016 5.5 million Steady Bureau of Labor Statistics
U 6 Unemployment November 2016 9.3% Down a little Includes those who have given up looking. BLS
Prices
Consumer Price Index W November 2016 235.215 Down slightly from Oct. 2016 Source: B L S
Money/Interest
U.S. National Debt January 3, 2017 $19,951,017,689,395.11 Up over $1 trillion in 2016: U.S. Debt Clock
Federal Discount Rate January 3, 2017 1.25% Up 0.25%
Prime Rate January 3, 2017 3.75% Up .25% from a year ago
Federal Funds Rate January 3, 2017 .75% Up 0.25% from a year ago
Cyclical Indicators
Consumer Price Index Urban November 2016 241.353 Up 0.2% from Oct. 2016 Source: BLS
New Orders for Manufactured Goods November 2016 $458.3 billion Down 2.4% from Nov. 2016 Econ & Statistics Adm
New Orders for Manufactured Durable Goods November 2016 $228.2 billion U.S. Commerce Dept. Down 4.6% from Oct. 2016
Business Inventories October 2016 $1,814.5 billion Up 2% from Oct. 2015: Econ. Stat. Admin.
Retail Sales November 2016 $468.05 billion U.S Census Bureau
Producer Price Index Final Demand November 2016 110.8 Up 0.4% from Oct. 2016 Soure: BLS.gov
Wholesale Inventories November 2016 $594.5 billion U.S. Dept. of Commerce
Housing Starts November 2016 1,090,000 Down 18.7% from Oct. 2016: U.S. Census Bureau
Construction Spending October 2016 $1,172.6.4 billion Up 0.5% from Sept. 2016 Source: Econ Stats Adm.
Building Permits November 2016 1,201,000 Do 4.7% from October 2016: U.S. Census Bureau
Other
World Population January 3, 2017 7,362,851,059 Higher: U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. Population January 3, 2017 324,321,654 Up again...U.S. Census Bureau
THREE-SECTOR, THREE-MARKET CIRCULAR FLOW

A circular flow model of the macroeconomy containing three sectors (business, household, and government) and three markets (product, factor, and financial) that illustrates the continuous movement of the payments for goods and services between producers and consumers, with particular emphasis on taxes and government purchases. Other circular models are two-sector, two-market circular flow; two-sector, three-market circular flow; and four-sector, three-market circular flow.

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Fact 3: Our Unfair Lives

Across the interstate from the Mega-Mart Discount Warehouse Super Center resides the Shady Valley Central Town Sprawling Hills Shopping Mall -- a prime example of our economy's climate-controlled, suburban shopping phenomenon. Our pedestrian's ramble through the economy would be totally inadequate if we did not spend at least one day strolling past the endless rows of stores with their displays of clothes, shoes, electronics, clothes, luggage, clothes, cheese pretzels, and of course clothes. Our pedestrian trip, however, is not concerned with the products exhibited beyond the stylish glass windows. No, our jumping off point is the gadzillions of people who pass us by, bump into us, get in our way, and generally make our shopping experience comparable to a commuter train during the rush hour.

Those who comprise the shopping crowd are short, tall, young, old, fat, thin, black, white, happy, and sad. More importantly for our present discussion, however, is that some are rich and some are not-so-rich. A few of the wealthier shoppers actually buy the products framed by the picturesque windows that line the air-conditioned quaint mid-way of Shady Valley Central Town Sprawling Hills Shopping Mall. Others must be content to ogle the prominently displayed products or perhaps buy an occasional cheese pretzel.
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BLACK DISMALAPOD
[What's This?]

Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time lost in your local discount super center hoping to buy either one of those "hang in there" kitty cat posters or a velvet painting of Elvis Presley. Be on the lookout for strangers with large satchels of used undergarments.
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Potato chips were invented in 1853 by a irritated chef repeatedly seeking to appease the hard to please Cornelius Vanderbilt who demanded french fried potatoes that were thinner and crisper than normal.
"It is part of the American character to consider nothing as desperate. "

-- President Thomas Jefferson

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