Update 407: Unemployment 3.5%, Inflation 2.3%Yet Prime Rate 1.75% — What Could Go Wrong?? What is the optimal interest rate under current economic conditions? This question has taken on new meaning for Chair Jerome Powell of the Federal Reserve. The current federal funds rate of 1.75 percent looks like an odd spot, given the nation’s …
Update 406: Trump Tariff War Casualties More Economic than Political; Losses Mount Farmers in rural America are on the front lines of President Trump’s trade policy. As a stopgap measure to placate parts of his political base, Trump has so far dolled out $19 billion in subsidies to U.S. agribusiness, with an additional $9 billion expected this …
Update 405 — The Purple, Populous Midwest:Economic Issues and the Des Moines Debate On stage for the seventh official DNC debate last night were Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Vice President Joe Biden, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and businessman Tom Steyer. Topics ranged from national security to climate to impeachment, but the debate also …
The world will little note nor long remember the year-end fiscal package that Congress is poised to pass tonight. But it will get almost twice as many votes as impeachment and may be a more unambiguous win for Speaker Pelosi and congressional Democrats. Once this $1.4 trillion tax and spending package is passed and signed, …
Update 403 — Paul Volcker in Memoriam Paul Volcker, Federal Reserve Chairman from 1979 to 1987, advisor to four U.S. presidents, policymaker and public servant par excellence, died on Sunday at 92. He will be remembered best for working to curtail the worst inflation crisis in the nation’s history and for the Volcker Rule, a …
Update 402 — Amazon To Apple After All; A Bird in Manhattan Worth Two in da Bronx? This February, we wrote up Amazon’s decision to renege on plans to build a new second headquarters in Long Island City, after a furor over the $3 billion in public money at stake. Fast forward to this past weekend …
Update 401 — Revenue Solutions for 2020;You CAMT Get Any from Firms Owing None In the 2017 fiscal year, FedEx owed more than $1.5 billion in taxes. The next year, it owed nothing. “FedEx takes great pride in being a good corporate citizen — here and abroad — at all times.” Except April 15 perhaps. …
Update 400 — HFSC Hearing on S. 2155, The (Stop) Wall Street Looting Act of 2019 As 2019 draws to a close and Congress moves toward adjournment by December 20, attention in Washington is on the narrowing windows of legislative opportunity. In the economic policy arena, the focus is on the FY 2020 budget (the current …
Update 399 — A Tale of Two Houses:Impact of Inequality on Housing Politics Although not generally considered a major policy remit of the federal government — housing accounts for under one percent of federal spending — housing and related markets represent 15 percent of GDP. Problems in the streets and on the Street have prompted responses on the …
Update 398 • Penny Lanes: Econ. Positionsand Left/Center/Right Turns in Atlanta Debate Today marks 52 years since the BBC informally banned the song “I Am the Walrus” by the Beatles for its sexually suggestive lyrics. Paul was not impeached. But there was no such controversy about this week’s Democratic debate in Atlanta, where the debate …
