The 2025 Florida Legislative Session has been unusual in many ways with failure to reach a budget agreement necessitating an extension to June 6 and disagreements between the governor and legislators. But there is one familiar touchstone in Tallahassee: attacks on tourism development efforts. State officials are pushing an idea to use tourist development tax […]Read More
With U.S. trade policy in flux, the rest of the world is bracing for stormy economic weather ahead. And the uncertainty about where the economic ships of state are heading makes charting a course virtually impossible. As the International Monetary Fund members gather for the organization’s spring meeting, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva offered warnings about […]Read More
The conventional wisdom in financial circles says the stock market isn’t the economy. But sometimes it is. And this is one of those times. Confusingly counterintuitive, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average, along with the other indices here and around the world are only some of several barometers economists rely on to measure the strength […]Read More
For anyone doubting economists make meteorologists look like the Oracle at Delphi, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference earlier this month offered definitive proof. Speaking after the central bank’s interest rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee meeting voted to keep rates steady, Powell said with the new administration’s policy initiatives “uncertainty around the changes […]Read More
It’s been a wild ride so far this year for the economy, and there are few signs that anything will change anytime soon. Looming trade wars, government shake-ups and a general air of unpredictability from Washington have made business owners and corporate boards more than a little nervous. And that could mean rough seas for […]Read More
The regulatory lights are about to turn green for cryptocurrency fans and the federal government is hitting the gas. In the midst of the first-month flurry of activity coming out of Washington D.C., officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a sea change in the relationship between government and digital currencies. The SEC launched […]Read More
At his first press conference of the new year, Federal Reserve Board chairman Jerome Powell made it clear monetary policy is on cruise control for now, despite increasing pressure from the new administration to approve more interest rate cuts. “The public should be confident that we will continue to do our work as we always […]Read More
If a rising tide lifts all boats, then the country’s biggest banks are riding high in their luxury yachts. While inflation was an economic thorn, 2024 was a pretty good year for the U.S. economy. When final gross domestic product numbers are in, they will likely show the United States posted the fastest growth of […]Read More
After a huge year in 2024, the landscape for cryptocurrencies could change dramatically over the next several months. Crypto’s standard bearer Bitcoin increased 150% in 2024 while the aggregate value of all digital currencies nearly doubled to $3.3 trillion, fueled by the launch of exchange-traded funds for Bitcoin. And while there has been a lot […]Read More
Whether travelling back to the future, taking a walk along the time tunnel or just relaxing in a hot tub time machine, Americans have long been fascinated with time. Even during the holiday season, when the workday routine is replaced with festive celebrations with family and friends, we still can’t stop thinking about the year […]Read More
