1. Chart of the Day I (above). In the first three months of 2015, net petroleum imports fell to a 44-year low of 25.5%, the lowest dependence on foreign sources of petroleum since 1971 (EIA data here).
2. Chart of the Day II (above). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, its FAO Food Price Index keeps falling. The FAO Food Price Index is calculated monthly based on international prices of a basket of food commodities (meat, dairy, cereals, vegetable oils and sugar). Over the last 12 months through April, the FAO Food Price Index fell by more than 19%, and was at the lowest level last month in almost five years. Adjusted for inflation, the real FAO Food Price Index is slightly lower this year (131.2) than in the first year of the index (1961) of 131.7. Over that time, the world population has more than doubled from 3 billion to 7.2 billion. According to Paul Erlich and the Malthusians, this should not be happening, says Cato’s Marian Tupy.
3. Nanny State Alerts: a) The government is coming for your handmade soap, and b) the NYPD arrested three women at the Union Square subway station for peddling churros without a license.
4. Civil Forfeiture Abuse: a) DEA to 22-year old train passenger: Thanks, we’ll just take your life savings of $16,000 cash, leave you penniless, and won’t even charge you with a crime, and b) Many cases are so outrageous (like the one above), an Iowa politician told a witness at a hearing on civil forfeiture that “You’re just making this stuff up.”
5. Who-d a-Thunk It? Tiered pricing for water reduces use? Water Pricing in Two Thirsty Cities: In One, Guzzlers Pay More, and Use Less.
6. Economic Fact of the Day I: In 98 out of the last 100 months from January 2007 to April 2015, the female jobless rate has been less than the male jobless rate. Perhaps that another reason for the gender wage gap: More men (women) work in industries like construction (education) where wages are higher (lower), but with a greater (lower) risk of being laid off or losing their jobs. That is, women are more risk-averse than men, and that shows up in lower wages but a lower chance of unemployment, especially during a recession.
7. Economic Fact of the Day II: The nation’s top-paying jobs for new college graduates this year will be fueled by the fracking industry. Grads with petroleum engineering degrees have the greatest average earning potential: $102,000 straight out of college.
8. Markets in Everything: a) Jewelers gold plate Apple Watches for $399 to undercut Apple’s pricey $10,000 to $17,000 Edition models, and b) With the “Gruberie” app, you can order and pay for your food at a restaurant without using a server, and c) For the first time in five decades, the U.S. is allowing ferry service between Florida and Cuba.
9. Grammar Anarchist. Saying he wanted to “make a point about aboriginal culture, colonialism, and the blind acceptance of English language conventions in academia,” a Ph.D. candidate at the University of British Columbia successfully defended a 149-page, 52,438-word dissertation without any punctuation. Was his academic field “indignation studies” or “bitterness studies”? Nope, it was architecture.
10. Video of the Day. Some applicants interview for the “world’s toughest job.” Just awesome. And very timely.
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