Category Archives: COVID-19

It Wasn’t the Fed

Posted on December 26, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly What more does Chairman Powell and the Federal Reserve Governors need to know to announce the inflation battle has been won? Its preferred inflation indicator has shown zero monthly increases for two months. The rate of U.S. … Continue reading →

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Consumers Much Happier This Season

Posted on December 20, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs Consumer confidence in December as measured by the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index is rising again; it jumped 10 points to 110.7 from 101. Why should that be, with all the doom and gloom and geopolitical uncertainty bombarding … Continue reading →

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How Low Can Interest Rates Go?

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner Stocks and bonds are rallying after Chairman Powell sounded dovish for the first time at his December press conference following their last FOMC meeting of the year. “The question of when it will be appropriate to begin … Continue reading →

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Please Drop Interest Rates Sooner!

Posted on December 12, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs If I were the Fed Governors, I wouldn’t wait for inflation to drop further to begin lowering interest rates. The inflation rate has been falling steadily for more than a year and we might be in the midst of a … Continue reading →

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More Jobs Than Ever!

Posted on December 8, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly This is what is called a ‘soft landing’. More jobs are being created in November’s unemployment report, though some 50,000 of the 199,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs are strikers returning to work in Hollywood productions and auto … Continue reading →

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Higher Productivity Lowers Inflation

Posted on December 7, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs Why has the Fed got it so wrong with inflation, even though the inflation rate has been falling steadily for more than a year? Paul Krugman in a recent NYTimes Op-ed said the personal consumption expenditure deflator (PCE) … Continue reading →

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What Happens Next?

Posted on December 2, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly What does the future foretell? Everyone wants to know what will happen next year now that the Fed is on hold and inflation continues to decline. I believe the construction industry is telling us the economy will … Continue reading →

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Shoppers Happy, Lower Inflation

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs There are two indicators that show consumers will continue to support economic growth this year, (and hence avoid a recession), while inflation is continuing to decline. Firstly, Thanksgiving, the biggest shopping holiday, lured in more shoppers than ever. … Continue reading →

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Housing Starts Up, Recession Worries Over?

Posted on November 21, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs The best indicator of a looming recession is to watch how consumers behave. And this will be a record year for travel on the ground and in the air. So, would consumers continue travelling if they saw financial … Continue reading →

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Where’s the Inflation–Part II?

Posted on November 15, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly We can also look at the behavior of wholesale prices to see if inflation has been conquered. The Producer Price Index has been at or below the Fed’s target 2 percent since May 2023. It’s the cost … Continue reading →

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