Category Archives: Consumers

Collaboration vs. Confrontation—Who Wins?

Financial FAQs theverge.com Is the era of trickle-down economics, of Reagonomics that saw so much wealth redistributed to the top 1 percent, finally ending? Yes, if we want to really ‘cure’ the pandemic decimating the U.S. and world economies, because … Continue reading →

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Consumer Sentiment in the Dumps

Financial FAQs MarketWatch Consumer sentiment is plunging.  And why not? With an additional 6.6 million initial unemployment compensation claims this week, it brings the total in just the past three weeks to 16.8 million since the COVID-19 national lockdown of … Continue reading →

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When Will it End?

Popular Economics Weekly COVID-19 Tracking Project/Calculated Risk When will the pandemic end and recovery begin, is the question asked of every expert and non-expert.  Foremost of the experts is former Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen who in a recent CNBC … Continue reading →

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U.S. Loses 701,000 Jobs in March

Financial FAQs MarketWatch Total nonfarm payroll employment fell by 701,000 in March, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The changes in these measures reflect the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) … Continue reading →

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Housing in the Time of COVID-19

The Mortgage Corner Wolf Street I reported in January that housing construction was slowly recovering, in part due to the extreme housing shortage and record low interest rates. Well, rates are even lower today, but purchase applications are now plunging … Continue reading →

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Might We Have More Than One Pandemic?

Popular Economics Weekly Wrightson/ICAP Yes, says behavioral economist Robert Shiller, who won his Nobel prize for the study of human behavior in financial markets. Why? Financial market investors are panicking because of the COVID-19 pandemic, for starters, which could affect … Continue reading →

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Housing Market Will Survive Coronavirus

The Mortgage Corner NAHB.org What happens to housing with the COVID-19 pandemic? It had been on the road to recovery with record low interest rates; so much so that single-family housing starts have been soaring since 2019 as more millennials … Continue reading →

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How Do We Fight COVID-19?

Popular Economics Weekly St.LouisFRED Economists are beginning to predict the worst due to the COVID-19 outbreak that has become a worldwide pandemic.  Former Fed Vice-Chairman Alan Blinder said recently on CNBC that a recession may have already begun this March; … Continue reading →

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No Job Losses Due to Coronavirus—Yet

Popular Economics Weekly MarketWatch The Labor Department’s February employment survey took place in the middle of February, before the coronavirus began its worldwide spread. So we will have to wait for March employment figures to know its impact on employment, … Continue reading →

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The Wages of Fear in a Recession—Part II

Financial FAQs FRED Is the U.S. economy already in recession? How can it be with more than 80 percent of the adult workforce employed? But that isn’t how recessions actually begin, as portrayed in the above St. Louis Fed unemployment … Continue reading →

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