Category Archives: Politics

Building a ‘Livable’ Climate Change Coalition

Posted on June 7, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

CHAPTER ELEVEN Old Town’s Revival Chapter Eleven is an excerpt from my memoir that discusses tools needed to form a community consensus. Our effort was dedicated to redevelopment of Old Town Goleta, prior to forming the new City of Goleta. … Continue reading →

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Debt Ceiling Deal Preserves New Deal

Posted on May 31, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs FREDusdebt President Biden said it best concerning the agreement to raise the national debt ceiling for two years, when asked at the G-7 summit if it could cause a recession. “I know it won’t…Matter of fact, the fact … Continue reading →

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U.S. Economic Life Signs Improve

Posted on May 26, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly FREDpceindex After a sputtering start, it looks like the U.S. economy is picking up steam. First Quarter GDP growth was revised upward from 1.1 to 1.3 percent in the BEA’s second estimate yesterday. And the Personal Consumption … Continue reading →

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Retail Sales Still Healthy

Posted on May 17, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

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

Posted on May 12, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

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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More Housing Sorely Needed

Posted on May 4, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

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

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

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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Softer Retail Sales Mean What?

Posted on April 18, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs FREDretailsales Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a recent Fareed Zakariah interview on CNN that she thought an economic soft landing was possible, despite warnings that the recent bank failures could cause banks to tighten in their lending … Continue reading →

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Americans Still Fully Employed

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly MarketWatch The MarketWatch graph above shows why the US Federal Reserve keeps raising interest rates. The US unemployment rate dropped from 3.6 to 3.5 percent in March. It was 14.7 percent in April 2020. It was last … Continue reading →

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It’s Time to Raise Fed Inflation Target

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly FREDavghrlypay In the light of the recent bank failures, and the Fed’s own missteps in fighting inflation, history is telling us that the Fed’s current 2 percent target rate for inflation is too low. Why? Because Federal … Continue reading →

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