Introducing

Mickey D. Levy

Mickey Levy is a macroeconomist who uniquely analyzes economic and financial market performance and how they are affected by monetary and fiscal policies. Dr. Levy started his career conducting research at the Congressional Budget Office and American Enterprise Institute, and for many years was Chief Economist at Bank of America, followed by Berenberg Capital Markets. He is a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and a long-standing member of the Shadow Open Market Committee.

Dr. Levy is a leading expert on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy, with a deep understanding of fiscal policy and how they interact. He has researched and spoken extensively on financial market behavior, and has a strong track record in forecasting. Dr. Levy’s early research was on the Fed’s debt monetization and different aspects of the government’s public finances. He has written hundreds of articles and papers for leading economic journals on U.S. and global economic conditions. He has testified frequently before the U.S. Congress on monetary and fiscal policies, banking and credit conditions, regulations, and global trade, and is a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal.

He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Economic Club of New York, and previously served on the Panel of Economic Advisors to the Federal Reserve of New York, as well as the Advisory Panel of the Office of Financial Research.

Dr. Levy holds a Ph.D. in Economics from University of Maryland, a Master’s in Public Policy from U.C. Berkeley, and a B.A. in Economics from U.C. Santa Barbara.

Publications by Mickey D. Levy

• USA| Jan 21 2025

  Advantage U.S.: Its Economy, Stock Market, Interest Rates and the Dollar

  The persistently stronger growth of the U.S. economy relative to most other advanced nations has been the driving factor that has resulted in a stronger stock market with higher valuations, higher interest rates and a strong US dollar. A handful of charts highlight the sizable differences in economic and financial market performance across nations. Nothing is permanent, and things—particularly shifts in economic policies--can initiate sizable changes in trends. As we assess shifts in economic policies and central bank monetary policies, it’s important to keep in mind the economic fundamentals that drive financial markets.

  Real growth comparisons. Chart 1 shows the cumulative percent change in real GDP since 2000 in the U.S., UK, Europe and Japan. In general, the faster growth in the U.S. reflects a combination of healthier gains in labor force and productivity. Real GDP growth in the UK matched the U.S.’s pace from 2000-2008, while Europe nearly kept pace, benefiting from the boom in global trade fueled by the China super-cycle. While the decade following the Great Financial Crisis was lackluster in the U.S., it was markedly slower elsewhere, particularly in Europe, which was hampered with ongoing financial crises during 2010-2014.

  Chart 2 shows the same data but indexes real GDP to 2019Q4, which highlights the U.S.’s continued healthy growth following the pandemic-related contraction in the first half of 2020, while growth in Japan, the UK and Europe has been particularly weak. The persistent outperformance of the U.S. economy is sizable.

  by:Mickey D. Levy

  |in:Viewpoints
• USA| Jan 03 2025

  Household Net Worth and Economic Performance

  Household net worth, the value of all financial and nonfinancial assets net of all debt held by households and nonprofit organizations, reached an all-time high of $168.8 trillion in 2024Q3 (Chart 1). While GDP and its components that describe the flows of national expenditures and income receive the most attention from economic commentators and financial markets, the quarterly household net worth data collected and published by the Federal Reserve Board and Haver Analytics are nevertheless important. They are both a reflection of economic performance and a significant contributor to it.

  by:Mickey D. Levy

  |in:Viewpoints