Why U.S. Might Be Perpetuating Global Poverty
Tweet Given the immense aid that the U.S. provides poor countries throughout the world, it sounds odd to say that the U.S. might be perpetuating global poverty. However, there are unintended consequences that come with directing food to impoverished areas. Additionally, it is assumed to not be in the interest of U.S. jobs to level [...]
Read More →Are We Headed for Another Recession?
Tweet The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released their preliminary report on economic activity on Friday, July 29th and it was expectedly dim at 1.3 percent. Typically, we want to see economic growth of at least 3 percent and this is far short of that figure.
Read More →Why debt ceiling matters
Tweet It appears that we are making progress in crafting an agreement for Congress to raise the debt ceiling from its current level of $14.3 trillion. Since reaching that level on May 16, the U.S. Treasury was unable to issue bonds to meet spending obligations. However, it is Republican leadership’s goal to tie any increase [...]
Read More →Albany employment numbers deceiving
Tweet On Thursday, June 23, the Georgia Department of Labor released their May labor report for Metro Albany. It showed the unemployment rate increasing from 9.8 percent to 10 percent. While a quick glance would appear that our local labor market took a step back relative to the rest of the state, I would assert [...]
Read More →Labor market gaining steam
Tweet The U.S. job report was very favorable in March and exceeded expectations. While the unemployment rate only dipped a tenth of a percent to 8.8 percent, it was encouraging to see 216,000 new jobs. That occurred despite further contraction of government jobs with the private sector adding 230,000 positions. Ideally, we need to see [...]
Read More →Japan fallout: economic cost
Tweet Editor’s note: This the second of a three-part series. In my first segment, an assessment of Japan’s earthquake dealt with environmental cost. As the crisis continues, we learn more specifics, such as radiation possibly affecting water supply. As time passes, we will continue to assess the damage on the overall environment. Now let us [...]
Read More →Japan fallout: environmental costs
Tweet Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series. The global economic impact of Japan’s earthquake cannot be underestimated with disaster efforts estimated to exceed Hurricane Katrina, which was estimated at $125 billion. The official loss of lives is currently at 8,199 as of March 20, but there are still 12,272 more unaccounted for. [...]
Read More →All Eyes on Saudi
Tweet As we see gas prices rise across the U.S., we can blame most of it to turmoil in the Middle East. Uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and now Libya threaten monarchical rule. Markets have responded with crude oil prices rising beyond $100 per barrel. One can speculate that some of the rise can be [...]
Read More →Inequality may be root of U.S. problems
Tweet According to University of Chicago economist Raghuram Rajan and his Money Magazine interview with David Futrelle on Nov. 24, he believes income inequality is the main problem with the U.S. today. This is a trend that started in the 1980s as tax code changes and technology dramatically transformed the economic landscape. Also, the rapid [...]
Read More →‘Tis the season to penny pinch
Tweet Even in Southwest Georgia, we can see the changing trend in our weather. The Georgia heat is subsiding; the landscape is slowly transforming from brown to bare; and the short-sleeved shirts are being traded in for sweaters. It must be time to bring out the red and green and celebrate the birth of Christ. [...]
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