Posts by Nicholas Hoffman and Company

This past week’s news presented some interesting facts about the state of our labor market. First, last Friday, the August jobs report was released, showing that only 22,000 new jobs were added.  Economists were expecting new jobs in the range of 75,000 to 80,000. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%, rising for the second…

At the US Open, amidst the roar of the crowd, a positive economic story is being told. It’s in the sale of the “Honey Deuce,” the tournament’s signature cocktail, priced at a notable $23. The drink’s immense popularity, with over 556,000 sold in 2024 for a revenue of nearly $13 million, speaks to a powerful…

In our line of work, continuing to learn is essential. There are many ways to learn new things. You can set about the task directly, or you can take a more passive approach and see what you can glean from other people’s experience. In my case, valuable lessons have been learned erratically, sometimes from unexpected…

The penny has long been a quiet fixture in American life—a copper sparkle caught between couch cushions, a lucky find on the sidewalk, the face of Lady Liberty originally, and later Abraham Lincoln, passed from one hand to another for over two centuries. Earlier this year, the U.S. Treasury announced the penny’s time is coming…

Returning from the UK, I was struck by a headline in a British news magazine, The Spectator, that read, “Rachel Reeves couldn’t be prouder of crippling the economy.” While provocative, the sentiment echoed conversations I have had with family and friends across England—conversations filled with concern, frustration, and a sense of decline. The UK, once…

A new University of Texas at Austin study reveals that sophisticated cryptocurrency scams, known as “pig butchering,” have stolen an estimated $75 billion from victims globally between January 2020 to February 2024, an amount far higher than previously thought. Increasingly, wealthy investors are becoming prime targets.  Professor John Griffin, a forensic finance expert, and one…

On the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea lie the three small countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. These Baltic States have much to teach anyone who doubts the foundations upon which our nation is built. For centuries, neighboring empires ruled the land of the Baltic States, most notably the Russians. Despite their difficult history,…

Cash management in a high-rate environment has become a performance battleground, and recently, new products have been created to help investors maximize their returns on cash reserves. Vanguard’s recent introduction of two new short-term Treasury ETFs, VBIL and VGUS, exemplifies this innovation, offering alternatives to money market funds that may provide more optimal liquidity solutions…

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has been the busiest airport in the world for over two decades —and 2024 was no exception. According to a report published by Airports Council International World, Delta’s headquarters and largest hub saw over 108 million passengers just last year! To provide some context: the second busiest airport in the world…

On Friday, President Trump signed into law a broad tax-and-spending package that extends and expands several provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 that were due to sunset in 2026. The new law includes significant tax adjustments, many of which will take effect beginning in 2025. Estate and Gift Tax: The…