Whether we are in the midst of a temporary blip in the financial services industry or at the beginning of the Great Banking Crisis of 2023 is something for time and economic historians to decide. But if journalism is “the first rough draft of history” as Philip Graham said when he was president and publisher […]Read More
News of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank have some consumers concerned about their own money. And despite the federal government’s quick work to guarantee depositors’ accounts, the prospect of a banking crisis adds a few more black clouds on the economic horizon. When publicly traded companies have news to report, their […]Read More
Talking about economic development is fun. It must be, since so many people talk about it all the time. What’s not fun about economic development – beyond the minutiae of an economic impact statement or a demographic analysis of population growth as a determinant of commercial viability – is acknowledging the cost. Government officials – […]Read More
The National Association of Business Economists recently released its forecast survey for 2023 and 2024, and the results were mixed. “Estimates of inflation-adjusted gross domestic product or real GDP, inflation, labor market indicators and interest rates are all widely diffused, likely reflecting a variety of opinions on the fate of the economy – ranging from […]Read More
Big Oil’s big year in 2022 came as no surprise to anyone who filled their tank the last 12 months. Meanwhile, another global industry saw a 30% increase in reported revenue compared with 2021. But nobody is ringing any bells about it. According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumer reported losing just under $9 billion […]Read More
Haters gonna hate and regulators gonna regulate. And the Federal Reserve Board is no exception, especially when it comes to banks. The latest target of Fed attention – and potential oversight – is cybersecurity. Not that the central bank is looking to expand its regulatory reach to the cybersecurity industry, but it could well be […]Read More
When 18th century English poet John Keats gazed upon his now-famous Grecian urn, he wondered what stories the figures depicted on the artifact might tell. Today’s investors may well feel the same way as they peruse the latest quarterly earnings reports, hoping to find some clear meaning behind the numbers and jargon. But many find […]Read More
April may be the cruelest month, at least according to T.S. Eliot, but February is a holiday wasteland. With Valentine’s Day, the Super Bowl and President’s Day dominating the calendar, there is another important celebration that gets far less attention. National Inventors’ Day, celebrated on the birthday of arguably the most famous American inventor, Thomas […]Read More
After a shaky start to the year, the U.S. economy grew by 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2022 and by 2.1% for the entire 12 months. You’d think that would have economists dancing in the aisles, but that is not the case. Despite strong employment numbers and decent, if not spectacular, consumer spending, and […]Read More
For those who think the Federal Reserve Board only cares about interest rates, the central bank is also concerned about climate change. At least concerned enough to look at whether there could be risks to the banking system from the weather. The agency announced earlier this month a Pilot Climate Scenario Analysis Exercise, which is […]Read More
