Most mammals, for instance, use their forefeet for walking, climbing, or defending themselves. Why are opposable thumbs so rare? The simple reason is that most animals do not need them to survive. A few other mammals and at least one frog species also have opposable thumbs. These include the great apes, Old World monkeys, and the primates of Madagascar. What other animals have rare opposable thumbs? Many primates do. The rotating thumb allows us to grasp, hold, and use objects. Imagine using only your fingers to do everything, if you had no thumb. This may not seem very special, but it is – most animals have toes or fingers that flex in only one direction. Having an opposable thumb means that you are able to rotate and flex your thumb so that it “opposes” or touches the tips of your other fingers, fingerprint to fingerprint. Driving, eating, gaming, and much more – you use your thumbs every day, but you may be wondering: what exactly is an opposable thumb? How does it differ from other digits? And what makes it so special? Rather, it is as if we are in an exclusive club with the few other animals that have this rare trait. Listed as number 10 on the list, a few New World monkeys, such as the tamarin and capuchin, climb like pros with their opposable thumbs and prehensile tales.Ĭontrary to popular belief, humans are not the only creatures with opposable thumbs.
Some Old World and New World monkey have opposable thumbs.Chameleons, which are number 5, have a distinct thumb arrangement that allows them to tightly grip branches for climbing.Ranking at number 1 on the list, humans not only have opposable thumbs, but we can do things with out thumbs other species with opposable thumbs cannot do, such as touch thumb to pinky finger.Doubtless, there’ll be some movement after the Jackson Hole speech, but probably not enough to change the material substance of the projection for long yields. Note that the big upward shift is from February to May. Source: BEA advance 2022Q2, CBO (May 2022), Philadelphia Fed Survey of Professional Forecasters (various releases). In terms of expectations regarding long term yields, these have consistently risen over the past three quarters.įigure 2: Ten year Treasury yields as reported (bold black), CBO May 2022 projection (blue), SPF February median forecast (red), SPF May forecast (light blue), and SPF August forecast (pink), all in %. Of course, potential GDP is notoriously difficult to estimate, so one has to be wary of making strong conclusions. In addition, the -2.1% gap in 2022Q1 suggests that cost-push shocks (and whatever expected inflation is in the system) are driving inflation, not demand push. Taking this estimate of potential literally, one should expect substantial downward pressure on prices. The output gap, using CBO’s May estimate of potential, is -2.1% in Q2, rising to an implied -2.8% in 2023Q3. Source: BEA advance 2022Q2, CBO (May 2022), Philadelphia Fed Survey of Professional Forecasters (various). So here is the picture for GDP.įigure 1: GDP as reported (bold black), CBO potential GDP (gray), CBO May 2022 projection (blue), SPF February median forecast (red), SPF May forecast (light blue), and SPF August forecast (pink), all in billions Ch.2012$, SAAR, on a log scale. With tracking indicating a slight upward revision to -0.3% from advance -0.9%, it’s not clear that respondents’ views would’ve changed much. While the release is already almost a couple of weeks old, it occurred after the advance Q2 release. A remarkable downgrade in expected growth shows up in a large implied negative - and widening - output gap, even as forecasted long yields rise, according to the Survey of Professional Forecasters (released 8/12).
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