A list of all of Doc Werlin’s writings pertaining to economics.
A Comparison of Texas to California
Click on the image below to see Doc's presentation: "A Comparison of Texas to California"
Texas and California: Two Economic Giants
The United States enjoys the remarkable advantage of having two states—Texas and California—that could each stand alone as prosperous and influential nations. If treated as independent countries, California would possess the world’s fourth-largest economy, while [...]
The Role of Investing in the United States
Introduction Theodore Roosevelt once said: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The [...]
Understanding Income Inequality
I presented this information at a talk about the growing income inequality in the United States. It was shared in a PowerPoint format. I am sharing the information with you, my readers, as a document [...]
Lecture re-post: 2025 Economic Overview and the Looming Debt Crisis
Click on the image below to see Doc's presentation: "2025 Economic Overview and the Looming Debt Crisis" Lecture: 2025 Economic Overview and the Looming Debt Crisis
Is President Trump’s Concern About Trade Deficits Misplaced?
After Winston Churchill lost the 1945 general election, his wife Clementine tried to comfort him. According to several accounts, she told him defeat might be a “a blessing in disguise.” Churchill reportedly replied, “At [...]
Ken Griffin, Citadel founder, criticized the Trump Administration for interfering in corporate affairs and making self-serving decisions
Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin criticized the Trump administration’s interference into the day-to-day business of American companies and raised concerns about self-serving decisions made by government officials. Griffin, a Republican megadonor, emerged last year as President Trump’s most [...]
The Attacks on Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, and Senator Mark Kelly
Executive Power, Institutional Independence, and the Boundaries of Lawful Authority Introduction To be transparent, I’ll share my bias. Historically, I have voted Republican on most occasions because of my strong belief in the traditional [...]
America’s Quiet Turn Toward State Capitalism
The Wall Street Journal recently observed that the United States is drifting toward a new economic model—what it describes as state capitalism. This system is neither socialism, in which the government owns the means of [...]
Discussion of Trump Tariff Policy
Personal Background: I majored in Economics at the University of Texas earning a BA and then master’s degrees in Economics and an MBA from the University of Michigan. My career on Wall Street spanned [...]
Anything Goes America – Abstract from The Economist
“Anything Goes America,” an abstract from The Economist, had a sad commentary on the decline of America. The first paragraph detailed Harry Truman, who after his presidency, lived on an income from his memoirs and [...]
Middle Class is Buckling Under Financial Strain of Inflation
Today’s Wall Street Journal highlighted that after nearly five years, middle-class earners now find that living is becoming increasingly unaffordable. Pew Research Center defines the middle-class broadly as having a household income between about [...]
Lecture: 2025 Economic Overview and the Looming Debt Crisis
Click on the image below to see Doc's presentation: "2025 Economic Overview and the Looming Debt Crisis" Lecture: 2025 Economic Overview and the Looming Debt Crisis
Cutting the Deficit Will Be Difficult
In today’s Wall Street Journal, “Cutting the Deficit is Easy-Just Unpopular,” the author, Grep Ip pointed out that cutting the deficit will be very difficult. Certainly, not politically easy. In 2024, the deficit was [...]
Congressional Budget Office Warns of Impending Debt Challenge
The Peter Peterson Foundation reported the following based on the June 18, 2024 CBO report.Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) warned that the United States is on an unsustainable fiscal course marked by rising deficits. [...]
Trump Allies Draw Up Plans to Blunt Fed’s Independence
Today’s Wall Street Journal reported that Donald Trump’s allies are quietly drafting proposals that would attempt to erode the Federal Reserve’s independence if he wins a second term. That said, his advisors are divided [...]
Income Tax Paid by Americans
The Wall Street Journal provided an overview of the income tax paid by Americans, broken down by income. Our nation is on an unsustainable fiscal path, driven by the mismatch between the government’s commitments [...]
China’s Growth Figures Do Not Add Up
Despite China’s boast that its economy grew at 5.2% in 2023, Greg Ip of the WSJ discounts that figure. Ip wrote, “Western analysts and even some Chinese officials have long taken Chinese gross domestic product with [...]
The U.S Government’s Mounting Debt Will Make Our Interest Costs Soar
Treasury yields have increased to multiyear highs, forcing the U.S. government to pay significantly more in interest. This in turn is putting significant pressure on the budget. America is expected to spend $870 billion, or [...]
My last essay for the Herald-Tribune
As I sit down to write my final column for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune after 15 years as a guest columnist, I find myself filled with a mix of emotions. First and foremost, I want [...]
The Next Chapter
As I sit down to write my final article for the Sarasota Herald Tribune after 15 years as a guest columnist, I find myself filled with a mix of emotions. First and foremost, I want [...]
Current status of the U.S. economy
The U.S. economy is entering the second half of 2023 much stronger than anticipated. The American economy is benefitting from broad-based momentum despite rising interest rates. For more than a year, there have been [...]
Growing ties between U.S. and India
On June 22, 2023, President Biden showered Indian Prime Minister Narendi Modi with expansive flattery during a lavish state dinner. He sought to draw India closer at a time when the United States is in [...]
Federal Reserve faces policy challenges
The Federal Reserve currently has two major challenges — fighting inflation and averting a credit crunch. Raghuram Rajan, the former governor of the Reserve Bank of India, summarized the problem: “They (the Federal Reserve) are between a [...]
The remote work revolution
The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted our lives. The entire ecosystem collapsed during the early months of the pandemic as office workers shifted to working from home. The office market has been slow to [...]
In retail industry, theft is growing faster than sales
Shoplifting is an alarmingly common crime. The National Retail Federation estimates that retail shrink, which includes theft but also problems leading to inventory being lost or recorded inaccurately, was roughly $95 billion in 2021. Dean Rosenblum, [...]
US faces unprecedented default on its Treasury debt
On May 1, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned in a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that the U.S. may run out of measures to pay its debt obligations by June 1. A potential [...]
With world’s largest population, India will wield economic muscle
On April 19, the United Nations projected that India’s population growth will surpass that of China by the middle of 2023. India’s population, driven by a combination of high fertility rates and improved health care and [...]
Prolonged inflation, banking crisis dims outlook for world economy
On April 11, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that its economic outlook for 2023 has been lowered. IMF Managing Director Kristina Georgieva cautioned that global growth is set for the weakest near-term expansion since 1990. The [...]
US labor market shows signs that it is beginning to soften
On March 4, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) reported that there were nearly 9.9 million job openings in February. This is a reduction from January’s downwardly revised 10.6 [...]
The precarious state of the US financial crisis
The role of the Federal Reserve is to create a safer and more stable monetary and financial system. Unfortunately, our central bank faces enormous challenges. We have not broken the back of inflation and the [...]
Two of the largest bank failures in U.S. history change the nation’s financial landscape
The sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) — the nation’s 16th largest bank — and Signature Bank have changed the financial landscape. Stephen Solaka, managing partner at Belmont Capital Group, wrote, “Sentiment went very quickly [...]
The debate over raising the debt ceiling
On Jan. 19, the United States hit its “debt ceiling,” which is currently capped at $31.4 trillion. The “debt ceiling” refers to a statutory limit on how much the U.S. can borrow. To prevent a default, [...]
Consumer price increases have moderated
On Feb. 14, the Labor Department reported that the Consumer Price Index increased by 6.4% over the past year. This represents the seventh straight month of declines. CPI measures a broad basket of goods and [...]