1.0Verbank Advisors & Agriculturehttps://verbank.luverbankfarmshttps://verbank.lu/author/verbankfarms/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content"><a href="https://verbank.lu/us-brazil-financial-news-12-04/">US + Brazil Financial News (12/04)</a></blockquote> <script type='text/javascript'> <!--//--><![CDATA[//><!-- /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(c,d){"use strict";var e=!1,n=!1;if(d.querySelector)if(c.addEventListener)e=!0;if(c.wp=c.wp||{},!c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage)if(c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if(t)if(t.secret||t.message||t.value)if(!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var r,a,i,s=d.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),n=d.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=0;o<n.length;o++)n[o].style.display="none";for(o=0;o<s.length;o++)if(r=s[o],e.source===r.contentWindow){if(r.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message){if(1e3<(i=parseInt(t.value,10)))i=1e3;else if(~~i<200)i=200;r.height=i}if("link"===t.message)if(a=d.createElement("a"),i=d.createElement("a"),a.href=r.getAttribute("src"),i.href=t.value,i.host===a.host)if(d.activeElement===r)c.top.location.href=t.value}}},e)c.addEventListener("message",c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),d.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",t,!1),c.addEventListener("load",t,!1);function t(){if(!n){n=!0;for(var e,t,r=-1!==navigator.appVersion.indexOf("MSIE 10"),a=!!navigator.userAgent.match(/Trident.*rv:11\./),i=d.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),s=0;s<i.length;s++){if(!(e=i[s]).getAttribute("data-secret"))t=Math.random().toString(36).substr(2,10),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t);if(r||a)(t=e.cloneNode(!0)).removeAttribute("security"),e.parentNode.replaceChild(t,e)}}}}(window,document); //--><!]]> </script><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://verbank.lu/us-brazil-financial-news-12-04/embed/" width="600" height="338" title="“US + Brazil Financial News (12/04)” — Verbank Advisors & Agriculture" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe>UNITED STATES   The main events this week are political, the tax reform proposal in Congress and the continuing investigations by the Special Prosecutor on Russia’s interference in the last Presidential election. Germane to the tax debate, on Wednesday we get the final data on Q3/17 nonfarm productivity. The consensus is for corroboration of the atypically strong number, 3.3%qoq-saar. If confirmed, nonfarm productivity will have increased 1.5%qoq-saar in the four quarters ending in Q3/17, reversing the pattern of the 0.1% contraction registered in the prior four-quarter period, and well above the 0.75% trend achieved on average during this expansion. The question is, are we at the dawn of a new cycle of higher productivity growth? From the available research—and this has been one of the most examined aspects of recent economic performance—the answer, regrettably, is no. Likely, the US economy will continue along a slow productivity growth regime, consistent with its 1-1.25% trend estimate. In the U.S. data since the early 1970s, the unusual period for productivity growth was roughly the 10 years from 1995 to 2005, when growth was faster than before or since. Since 2004, nonfarm productivity averages 1.3% annualized growth. Measured spending on innovation also shows a slowdown […]