The Financial Riddler 3-14-24

Sorry, but you won't get any of these right.

1. What share of Americans live near enough to the coast to be endangered by land sinkage?

   a. 40 percent

   b. 35 percent

   c. 30 percent

   d. 20 percent

   e. 10 percent

And the answer is …

The answer is 40 percent. Atlantic City is a prime example. It’s one of 32 major coastal cities that are dropping. In fact, many coastal areas, particularly in Texas, are sinking faster than sea levels are rising.

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2. What was the manufacturing share of U.S. GDP in 1950?

   a. 80 percent

   b. 60 percent

   c. 43 percent

   d. 25 percent

   e. 17.7 percent

   f. 11.6 percent

And the answer is …

The answer is 25 percent.

3. What is the current manufacturing share of U.S. GDP? Hint: Successive Presidents have made expanding U.S. manufacturing a major priority.

   a. 49 percent

   b. 36 percent

   c. 33 percent

   d. 15 percent

   e. 8 percent

   f. 6 percent

And the answer is …

The answer is 8 percent. Time to face facts. The U.S. is a service, not a manufacturing economy. We can’t compete against China, who can produce an electric car for $11,000. Indeed, the Chinese now make an electric car with a range of over 650 miles.

4. Of those eligible to vote in the Presidential election this year, what fraction are neither Republicans nor Democrats?

   a. Over 60 percent

   b. Between 50 and 60 percent

   c. Roughly 40 percent

   d. Roughly one third

And the answer is …

The answer appears to be over 60 percent given the data from the last election. Hence, the non-aligned will determine the outcome of the election if they vote. But last election, one-in-three non-aligned eligible voters didn’t vote. That’s roughly 80 million people! If you know someone who is in a swing state who thinks voting isn’t going to matter, have them read this article, which shows that 44,000 votes ended up deciding the 2020 election.

5. Hypersonic missiles travel at five times the speed of sound. China is the world’s leader. Russia is using them in Ukraine. The U.S. has spent $12 billion over many years developing its own hypersonic missile. How many have we fielded to date?

   a. None

   b. 23

   c. 57

   d. 79

   e. 811

And the answer is …

The answer is none. It seems we are starting development over according to a recent Bloomberg report. Since we don’t seem to have a clear means of shooting down Chinese or Russian hypersonic missiles, our navy, particularly our 11 mammoth aircraft carriers appear to be sitting ducks.

6. How much have lawyers’ salaries risen in the past decade adjusted for inflation?

   a. 20 percent

   b. 13 percent

   c. 7 percent

   d. 1 percent

   e. negative 6 percent

And the answer is …

The answer is negative 6 percent.

7. How much have office rents, nationwide, risen over the past year?

   a. 8 percent

   b. 4 percent

   c. 2 percent

   d. negative 3 percent

   e. negative 7 percent

   f. negative 10 percent

And the answer is …

Office rents have declined by almost 10 percent. This spells more, potentially terminal trouble for the many medium-sized and small-size banks who have financed so much commercial real estate across the country.