Archive: Economic and Financial Digest
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 […]
December 30, 2018 | Economic and Financial Digest
Gathering Headwinds
With the midterm elections behind us, the pollsters can breath a sigh of relief that the outcome was generally consistent with their predictions, unlike the embarrassing misses in the 2016 election. For the most part, economists can also pat themselves on their collective backs for correctly predicting the economy’s performance this year. Most saw a […]
November 20, 2018 | Economic and Financial Digest
The Fed in the Crosshairs
The Federal Reserve, as expected, raised its bellwether policy rate again at its September meeting, bringing it to a range of 2 to 2-1/4 percent. That’s still low by historical standards, but a fair distance away from the near zero level in effect from December 2008 through December 2015. If all goes according to plan, […]
October 20, 2018 | Economic and Financial Digest
The Road Ahead Will Get Bumpier
The economy is closing in on the best year for growth in more than a decade, and household and business spirits are understandably upbeat. Workers have enjoyed 95 consecutive months of job growth, the longest stretch on record; wages are finally starting to rise at a faster clip; and personal finances continue to improve, with […]