Category Archives: Economy

This Recovery Another ‘Roaring Twenties’?

Financial FAQs AtlantaFed.org I wonder if our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic could repeat the ‘Roaring Twenties’ jazz era of F Scott Fitzgerald. Why not? There are some surprising similarities. The Roaring Twenties were named for the era that followed … Continue reading

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Existing-Home Sales Still in Decline

The Mortgage Corner I said last week that higher new home sales and rising homebuilders’ optimism foretell a strong summer sales season if builders and existing-home inventories don’t run out of housing stock. The problem is not enough existing homes … Continue reading

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Retail Sales Still Healthy

Financial FAQs Calculated Risk/Census Bureau Why do consumers keep spending with so much news warning of an impending recession? Well, because we’re not even close to a recession yet. NYTimes columnist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman has been puzzling over … Continue reading

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Wholesale Inflation is Tamed

Financial FAQs BLS.gov April’s Producer Price Index for final demand confirmed the wholesale cost of goods and services has already returned to a 2 percent range, which should enable Fed officials to say the battle against COVID-induced inflation is almost … Continue reading

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Inflation is Now Tamed?

Popular Economics Weekly FREDcpi Has Chairman Jerome Powell’s Federal Reserve been suffering from a giant inferiority complex, from the fear that its actions are not being taken seriously enough and so it tends to overreact to crises? That seems to … Continue reading

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Where’s the Recession?

Popular Economics Weekly MarketWatch Surprise, surprise. Americans remain fully employed, in spite of the Fed’s efforts to slow economic growth. The ‘official’ unemployment rate dropped to 3.4 percent in April. The last time it was this low was in 1968. … Continue reading

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More Housing Sorely Needed

The Mortgage Corner I said last week that higher new home sales and rising homebuilders’ optimism foretells a strong summer sales season if builders and existing-home inventories don’t run out of housing stock. The construction industry is responding. Spending in … Continue reading

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Fed Should Call a Truce

Financial FAQs CalculatedRisk First Republic Bank’s takeover by the FDIC highlighted just how vulnerable our banking system is to higher interest rates. It had more than 80 percent uninsured deposits, just like the other failed banks vulnerable to higher interest … Continue reading

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More Housing Needed

The Mortgage Corner Higher new home sales and rising homebuilders’ optimism foretells a strong summer sales season if builders and existing-home inventories don’t run out of housing stock. More new homes could also soften what is being termed a rolling recession with … Continue reading

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US Economy Already In Recession

Popular Economics Weekly BEA.gov First quarter 2023 economic growth was not good, after all the conjecture over where US growth is headed. U.S. Gross Domestic Product grew at just a 1.1 percent annual rate in the first three months of … Continue reading

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