Monday afternoon links

1. Chart of the Day I — US Beer Milestone (above). According to data released last month by the Brewers Association, there are now 4,144 breweries operating in the US as of November, which surpasses the previous historic high of 4,131 US breweries in 1873 (see chart above). Some beer facts of note for 2015 (“The Year of Beer”):

• Brewery openings now exceed two a day.
• Fifteen states are now home to more than 100 breweries: California, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas, Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Indiana.
• IPA remained the top style sold by independent craft brewers, and continues to grow faster than the overall craft category.

You can dive deeper into this historic beer milestone by viewing the Brewers Association’s interactive timeline of US breweries from 1873-2015.

2. Chart of the Day II — Vehicle Miles (above). US traffic volume set a new all-time record in October, according to the Federal Highway Administration’s most recent Traffic Volume Trends report for vehicle-miles of travel through October. Americans drove an estimated 273.5 billion miles in October, which was a record high for the month. On a 12-month moving total basis, Americans drove 3.13 trillion miles in the 12-month period between October 2014 and October 2015, which established a new all-time 12-month traffic volume record for the US. Lower gas prices and an improving economy were certainly two of the main contributing factors to the new 12-month traffic volume record in October.

3. Chart of the Day III — Balance of Payments (above). It’s a frequently overlooked, but very important economic point that there is no “trade deficit” once all trade (goods and services) and investment (capital) flows are accounted for. That is, the Balance of Payments always balances, or sums to zero as the chart above shows. The United States has had a “trade deficit,” or a net cash outflow for Americans’ spending on foreign goods and services and for investment income payments like dividends and interest, in every year since 1983. But those net cash outflows on the “current account” have been exactly offset every year by net cash inflows for US financial assets (stocks, bonds, direct investments, etc.). Those net capital inflows are called “capital account surpluses” or they could also be referred to as “foreign investment surpluses.” Over the last 32 years since 1983, the “foreign investment surpluses” represent almost $10 trillion in foreign investment in the US economy. So while we hear a lot of complaining and hand-wringing about America’s ongoing “trade deficit” and the alleged economic weaknesses from those “deficits,” we hear almost nothing about the offsetting investment capital inflows/surpluses from foreign sources and the economic benefits of those ongoing “foreign investment surpluses.”

4. Chart of the Day IV — Police Officer Deaths by Gunfire (above). According to data from the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP) there were 31 US police officers killed by gunfire in the line of duty last year (this figure of 31 officers excludes the 4 K9 deaths and 4 Puerto Rican officers reported on the ODMP). Except for 2013 when 26 US police officers were killed by gunfire (again excluding 4 K9 deaths and one officer in Puerto Rico), that makes 2015 the safest year for US police since 1887, and that’s not adjusted for the increasing size of the US population. After adjusting for the US population, 2013 was the safest year in US history for America’s law enforcement officers, followed by 2015 as the second safest year in US history. On the other hand, US police killed 1,200 citizens last year according to this source.

5. Chart of the Day V — Wages by Race and Gender (above). The data displayed above on weekly earnings for full-time workers in 2014 by race and gender are from the Women in the Labor Force: A Databook that was released last month by the BLS. Since reports like this from the BLS contain detailed data for both male and female workers (with approximately equal coverage), wouldn’t it be more accurate for this report to be titled Men and Women in the Labor Force? Putting that snarky question aside, here are a few interesting observations:

a) Asian women working full-time in 2014 earned more per week on average ($841) than black ($680) and Hispanic men ($616). Stated differently, Hispanic men earn only 73 cents for every $1 the average Asian woman earns, and black men earn only 81 cents for every dollar the average Asian woman earns. Do those pay disparities reflect gender discrimination against men? Or minority (Asian) privilege?

b) Asian women working full-time earned only about 3% less per week ($841) than the average full-time male worker ($871) in 2014.

c) The 17% wage gap between Asian and white men (in favor of Asian men) is exactly the same as the 17% overall gender wage gap in 2014.

6. Venn Diagram of the Day (above). Inspired by the wage disparity data in Item #5 above.

7. Graphic of the Day (above). Partly at least in response to rising labor costs from the “Fight for $15” hysteria that is sweeping the nation, some fast food restaurants are responding with increased automation, including the automated ordering kiosks pictured above at Hardee’s. Expect more of this type of automation going forward as more cities and states pass higher minimum wage laws (14 states are raising their minimum wages this week). Hey, who said that government policies can’t foster innovation?

8. Quotation of the Day, is from Alston Chase (quoted by Michael Crichton in the appendix of his book about global warming “State of Fear“):

When the search for truth is confused with political advocacy, the pursuit of knowledge is reduced to the quest for power.

9. Who-d a-Thunk It? Mexican drug cartels see their profits tumble as America loosens its laws on weeds? Shocking, no?

10. Video of the Day (below). Watch the “Un-building of an ink jet printer,” from Matthias Wandel’s Woodworking for Engineers blog. As he tears down an HP ink jet printer/scanner, Matthias comments on the ingenious ways HP has removed costs through eliminating many small parts such as springs for buttons or clips for wires, and switching to cheaper DC motors with encoders versus the older stepper motors. Those innovative cost savings in production are passed along to consumers, who can buy an HP inkjet printer for as low as $29.99!

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