Archive: Economic and Financial Digest
May 06, 2019 | Economic and Financial Digest
Profits Recession?
The U.S. economy is tracking a path very close to expectations – growing more slowly than last year but not decelerating to the edge of a recession. Yes, recession odds have risen in recent months, thanks mainly to a global backdrop that is turning weaker than expected. The International Monetary Fund just lowered its global […]
April 16, 2019 | Economic and Financial Digest
Back to the Future: 2% Growth
As advertised, the brutal headwinds that buffeted the U.S. economy late last year are having knock-on effects in the early months of 2019. The economy’s performance in the closing quarter of 2018 did not look bad at all as GDP advanced by a respectable 2.6 percent annual rate, according to the government’s preliminary estimate That […]
March 12, 2019 | Economic and Financial Digest
Reduced Policy Risks Defuses Recession Threats
The economy skirted another landmine on February 15 when Congress passed, and President Trump signed, a package of spending bills that funds the government for the rest of the fiscal year which ends September 30. With the growth-impediment of another government shutdown out of the way, the economic expansion should remain on course to become […]
February 19, 2019 | Economic and Financial Digest
It’s Not Just Jobs
Thanks to the government shutdown it will be a while before the data calendar returns to normal. In the meantime, economists, policymakers and investors are flying partially blind. Yet through anecdotal reports, private surveys and hard data available from government agencies that remain open, including the Labor Department and the Federal Reserve, a sense of […]
January 24, 2019 | Economic and Financial Digest
Bubble, Bubble, Toil, and Trouble
There’s an old adage that Wall Street likes to climb a wall of worry. In the first quarter of 2019, that wall keeps getting higher, resulting in one of the most tumultuous market environments in years. The question is, will that wall come tumbling down or pose a formidable barrier for the economy to surmount […]