… HOW WILL STORM IMPACT U.S. ECONOMY?
Last year it was winter storm Juno … a system which was widely blamed for cratering first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) expansion in the United States.
This year the storm’s name is Jonas … and it’s set to bring a (insert fear-inducing adjective here) blizzard to Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City. In fact all four of those cities are currently under a blizzard warning that covers approximately 85 million Americans.
How much snow are we talking about? Up to two feet in some areas …
Further south, the system is expected to result in significant icing … including along the Interstate 85 corridor in the South Carolina Upstate.
All this is obviously quite a contrast from 2015, which was the warmest year on record thanks to a record-setting El Niño (a.k.a. an unusually strong periodic warming of the central and eastern equatorial regions of the Pacific Ocean).
That El Niño is what produced all the rain and the unseasonably warm weather over the Christmas holiday.
What impact will the storm have on the economy? That’s debatable. Economists – especially government ones – love to blame storms for the poor performance of the economy, although it’s far more likely fundamental weaknesses (i.e. low labor participation, depressed wages, global economic headwinds) are the culprit. Having said that, a massive freeze-out of a quarter of the country’s population obviously isn’t helpful … even if it only lasts a few days.
Anyway, as we wish our neighbors to the north the best in weathering Jonas we will keep an eye out for its real economic impact – and attempt to ascertain whether certain taxpayer-funded economists attempt to use it as an excuse for less-than-robust economic growth across-the-boards.
26 comments
Farley and Hoover are on WOLO and WIS respectively screwing up the forecast, contradicting the NWS and ignoring the on going situation completly.
It’s the SNOWPOCALYPSE!
Quick everybody run out and buy eggs, milk and bread, (get some cinnamon sugar while you’re there, I love french toast!)
Meanwhile the stock market indices are up 1.5% to 2%. Yea, the economy is taking a big hit today.
The markets remain deeply in the red on the year. The Dow has plunged 1,658 points in 2016, while the S&P 500 is down 9%.
Jonas who?
Investors are clenching their butts in case Trump wins, at which point the market would completely tank.
Don’t forget smokes & beer!!!!!
No BS:
A year or two back, I asked a lady running a convienance store if it was true that she routinely ran out of milk & bread and she told me the biggest things she sold during a winter storm was smokes and beer!!!!
But then again, this was a country-style “7-11” in a rural area……………
We had chili beans and “hillbilly” style corn bread tonight…the perfect thing for weather like this!!!!!
Ever had “Russian tea” & rum???……….Hot damn!!!!!!!
Stay warm & dry y’all!!!!!
Sincerely,
Sparklecity (abet “slightly “buzzed” due quaffing “Russian Tea” w/Bicardi……)
Liquor stores generally do pretty good business as well. I need some cornbread, I don’t remember the last time my wife made any…
What’s with the stocking up on bread and milk? I’ve never understood that combination, unless you’re making french toast, but why only make french toast when you’re “snowed in”. I don’t even really drink much, but beer and pizza is a far more preferable combination if I’m forced to stay inside all day.
If I buy or cook anything special it is something that can be eaten cold in case of power loss. I also make up some extra ice packs and ice, to use in the fridge if needed. I’ve never understood why the milk runs – the bread, yes.
Gotta have something to make White Russians with!!!!!
Damn, must be the first time it’s ever snowed up there. Wonder how people survived before the weatherman came to be?
Almost 4 inches of snow in northern Spartanburg County…
No work on state highways but are drivable IF you have 4WD or use common sense….
No power outages in our neck of the woods (yet…). Got my generator and old reliable Kero-Sun (1980 model) ready to go {just in case…}
I’m a fan of the Buddy heater line. They are versatile for emergency use or camping, never an issue.
I’ve heard of the line. I’m sure they do a good job. Anything like that is good to have when/if the power goes out in the winter.
If I see that it’s going to be a long cold spell I use the Kero-Sun combined with solar gain almost 100% of the time (I designed/built my house as passive solar back in 1985) If it’s 30 degrees F but sunny my heat pump hardly runs during the day and I fire the Kero-Sun up at night but since the winter’s been pretty mild, I haven’t “fired” it up but it’s in the laundry room with a full tank ready to go.
No snow, only ice in my area of Lancaster. I hate ice.
it snowed some more since my last posting but no power outages here, Understand Greenville County has around 14,000 users out. We’re not far from Tigerville and so far no outages in this area. Outages probably over in the Pickens area and up around Marietta & TR and US 25 N area
Hmmm, would “old reliable Kero-Sun” just happen to be your bride? Chuc Mai Chin, Fits proofreader, is curious — says she might know her from somewhere.
Hey Shifty! I posted a lengthy joke in response to a link Rocky put up regarding Trump imitating the handicapped reporter on the below thread. Feel free to add it to your collection.
https://www.fitsnews.com/2016/01/22/donald-trump-tv-spot-slams-ted-cruz-on-immigration/
Thanks, I overlooked that one before but it’s in my library now. And I found one sort of similar to that one earlier in the week . I’ll have to add it in and then post for you.
Hope mamatiger92 and family is okay.Be my Switzerland and express my hope that they ‘weather’ the storm and the lights stay on. :)
Sorry to disappoint you but it’s a Kero-Sun “Omni-85”. Puts out 13,000 BTU’s at full burner which means it doesn’t run you out of the room at full throttle and since it’s on “full throttle”, it is practically odor free and never any soot on the mica windows. A full tank at “full throttle” runs 10-12 hours at least
We’ve got a 1500 square foot house and it will heat the entire house if you leave it in the middle of the hall by the stairway.
Those 19,000 BTU jobs will run you out of the room unless you have a pretty big house. If you cut back on the heat the fumes can be pretty unpleasant let alone the increased threat of carbon monoxide.
I bought that thing back in 1980 when they were the thing to have. Got word that some were coming in (I don’t remember which store) and I got it straight away. Seems like I paid 300 bucks for it. Back then the rental house I was living in had baseboard heat and the electric bill was eating me up. My electric bill went way down after I fired the thing up. It’s 35 years old and works fine. I maintain the wick and change it every few years and it keeps plugging away. No additives like wick-cleaning fluid or junk like that either. Just fresh clear kerosene.
BTW: Why the fuck ain’t kerosene and motor oil not coming down in price???? 3-4 bucks a quart for 10W-30 or 5W-20 standard oil at Advance Auto or O’Riley’s is WAY too much when oil is around $30/barrel!!!
Thanks for your response and info. Just kidding about the name because it sounded oriental and the way it read in the sentence sounded like you might be a slave-driver. Cousin Judge has already bitched about the other products not having lower prices. You are doing good to keep something that old in good working condition. I’ve got a few things around that still chug along. Here’s some news for you ….. a guy in our neighborhood moved into a rental unit and had problems with the refrigerator defrost unit (?). So the owner purchased a NEW fridge for the guy about five months ago. Something went wrong with it, and the guy complained. So one day I see another NEW fridge being taken inside. Being curious I asked the owner’s guy about it and he told me that the new fridges had been made for only a few months, and the company hadn’t even started making any replacement parts yet! Amazing!
No sweat, I got your joke……..I’m just a walking talking ad for Graingers!!!
I’m not surprised about anything any more when it comes to products……..Did you read/hear about GE selling its appliance line to a Chinese company last week???
Crazy times I tell you!!!!!
“Soylent Green” is coming…I tell ya!!!!!!!
One other thing about that trusty ‘ol Kero-Sun……you can heat up a big ‘ol pot of Bunker Hill Beef stew on top of it!!!!!
Seems like I recall you being a Navy guy..ever been to Korea???
Those are some Asian women who have racks!!!!!
Oh,oh, oh………………..
Here’s one for your library of jokes:
Q: What do the Japanese call “the clap”?
A: “Honorable discharge”
Everything in product development these days is about connectivity. One Korean company is working on a new silent smoke alarm. When it detects smoke it sends you a text, tweets your friends, and posts a picture of the fire on Facebook.