A list of all of Doc Werlin’s writings pertaining to economics.
On Thursday, Google-parent Alphabet became the fourth U.S. firm to achieve a market value of more than $1 trillion. Alphabet joins Apple, Amazon and Microsoft as the only American companies to have attained this [...]
As one would expect, stock market junkies like myself think about our prospects for 2020. After enjoying stellar returns in 2019, some analysts (not me) worry that the United States could suffer from falling [...]
The Case Against Court Packing Walter Shapiro Brennan Center For Justice Walter Shapiro of the Brennan Center for Justice made the following arguments against 21st-century court packing: It is dangerous to tamper with the mechanisms [...]
Happy days are here again The skies above are clear again So let’s sing a song of cheer again Happy days are here again All of the major indexes have performed remarkably well in [...]
Last week, Paul Volcker, one of our greatest Chairmen of the Federal Reserve, passed away. Volcker’s most notable accomplishment was his successful struggle to subdue inflation in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Volcker [...]
On Friday the Labor Department reported that the job market enjoyed excellent performance — nonfarm payrolls surged by 266,000 and unemployment fell to 3.5%, a 50-year low. Over the past year, almost 1.7 million [...]
According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the United States has enjoyed its longest expansion. Starting in June 2009, our Gross Domestic Product has grown 25%. We now enjoy a 3.5% unemployment rate, [...]
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, November 13, 2019 In testimony before the House Committee on the Budget, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell expressed strong reservations about the U.S. federal debt. He worried that policymakers will [...]
Recently, most major indicators have turned negative. As a consequence, the global-growth slowdown has frightened investors. In recognition of this malaise, the stock market has been flat for the past 12 months. To ward [...]
In anticipation of the 2020 elections, candidates have made campaign promises to make our country better. The high costs of a college education, medical treatment, improving our environment, housing, etc. are just some of [...]
“We do not want to be servants to the Chinese.” — President Trump Tweet, Sept. 1 Last Tuesday, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released data that showed U.S. manufacturing sector declined for the [...]
The federal government budget deficit is fiscally irresponsible. For the second year in a row, the shortfall will exceed $1 trillion. The current generation of political leaders is now oblivious to fiscal constraint. The [...]
There is widespread expectation that Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, will initiate a fresh round of monetary stimulus. His actions would reflect growing concern that the trade conflict between the United [...]
The observance of the 75th anniversary of D-Day has deservedly caused universal celebration. Winston Churchill articulated the importance of defeating Hitler. It prevented us from “sinking into the abyss of a new Dark Age.” [...]
President Trump’s surprising announcement that starting June 10 America will impose a 5% tariff on imports from Mexico has heightened tensions not only on our Southern border but also caused global turbulence. Since taking [...]
The Wall Street Journal reported that our government is using Big Data, a revolutionary methodology to accumulate information about our economy in order to track our results and report their findings. Big data is [...]
Trustees of Social Security have recently reported that its costs will exceed its income in 2020. This shortfall will force the program to dip into its nearly $3 trillion trust fund to cover benefits. [...]
Is the world in danger of drowning in debt? The International Monetary Fund this month issued a report highlighting its concerns about worldwide debt, which it said totals some $152 trillion. “The period of [...]
On Thursday, the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy’s rate of growth slowed to an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the last quarter of 2018. This is below the 3.4 percent growth [...]
On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell said that he is concerned about low inflation not only in the United States but also in other developed countries. Specifically, inflation for a significant time period [...]
“The high level of U.S. government debt is likely to mean that the U.S. economy is much more interest-rate sensitive than it has been historically.” Robert Kaplan, president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Robert [...]
The anticipation that U.S. corporations will repurchase a record $940 billion of their stock has raised significant congressional criticism, particularly from Democratic presidential hopefuls, but also from Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. The [...]
This past Thursday, President Donald Trump gave an upbeat assessment of efforts to settle our trade dispute with China. Vice Premier Liu He promised China would buy more U.S. farm and energy products and [...]
President Harry S. Truman once quipped that he wanted a “one-handed” economist because all his economic advisers said, “on the one hand this, and the other hand that!” Alas, “Give ‘em Hell Harry” would [...]
On Thursday, the markets dropped precipitously for a variety of reasons, including Apple’s disappointing revenue projections, concerns over the Federal Reserve ‘s monetary policy, the U.S.-China trade impasse and weak U.S. manufacturing data. Stephen [...]
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve nudged up short-term interest rates to 2.25 to 2.5 percent, the ninth increase since December 2015. In recognition of slowing growth in China, Japan and Europe and of our [...]
Over the past six weeks, U.S. crude oil prices have dropped from close to $75 a barrel to below $50, the lowest since October 2017. It is almost inconceivable that just a few weeks [...]
Last week, Amazon chose New York City and Northern Virginia as the locations for the company’s second and third headquarters. To attract Amazon, New York offered a package of nearly $3 billion, while Virginia [...]
In recent weeks, significant attention has been paid to the possibility of a stock market correction. By contrast, few have focused on the challenges developing in the corporate bond market. The bond market is [...]
The completion of the U.S.–Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) alleviates the concerns of businesses and investors who for months worried about our trade relationships with Canada and Mexico. Investors seem generally relieved that important components of [...]
Ten years after the global financial crisis, the combined debt of sovereign governments, nonfinancial corporations and households has grown by $72 trillion to a total of $169 trillion, according to a briefing note from [...]
Our economy is robust but we need to remember that capitalism is inherently unstable and undergoes cycles of boom and bust. In 2008, our financial institutions were overleveraged and held too many toxic assets. [...]
Ten years ago, the Federal Housing Finance Agency seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, placing them in conservatorship. The federal agency did this because the mortgage giants’ $5 trillion loan portfolios were in danger [...]
What a difference a year makes. In 2017, the U.S. dollar was weak and the prices of commodities, metals and oil were strong. Now the strength of the U.S dollar has wreaked havoc on [...]
This past week, Apple Inc. became the first publically traded U.S. company to have a market value in excess of $1 trillion. Apple has succeeded because it dominates the smartphone market and is cultivating [...]
Last Thursday, President Donald Trump broke with tradition and criticized the Federal Reserve’s plan to raise interest rates. Historically, presidents have refrained from speaking specifically about monetary policy. On CNBC, Trump said: “I am [...]
