Viewpoints

The pandemic utterly dominated state income numbers in the second quarter. Every state saw a double-digit rate of decline in earnings from employment and noncorporate business. Every state saw a double-digit rate of growth in [...]

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.1% in the three months to September, according to the Hong Kong Census and Statistics (see Figure 1). Note that the jobless rate has been hovering around this [...]

In a sudden reversal, the Trump Administration has given its blessing for a bigger stimulus plan. It was only a week or so ago when the White House National Economic Advisor stated the strong rebound in economic activity doesn't [...]

The liquidity boom fueled from record fiscal and monetary stimulus has disappeared. The unwind process will be uneven just as it was uneven on the upside when record stimulus flowed through portfolio, income, and spending channels. [...]

Officiandos of the works of Charles Dickens will recognize the book titles that head up this commentary. 'Hard Times' certainly seems apt when assessing the global economic damage that's been generated by the current crisis and the [...]

Federal Reserve has spent over a year conducting a review of its monetary policy strategy, tools, and communication process. The review was an academic re-assessment of an academic experiment called inflation targeting. The new [...]

The sharp drop in operating profits in 2020 mirrors the decline of 2008. But the mix of profits is markedly different, with the bulk of the decline centered in non-financial industries. The crisis of 2020 is centered more so in the [...]

The Federal Reserve's new policy of inflation "averaging" is a mistake. The trade-off nowadays is between inflation and financial stability. Buying more inflation will eventually create financial imbalances that over time will [...]