A list of all of Doc Werlin’s writings pertaining to economics.
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 [...]
Sadly, our polarized political atmosphere prevents the country from dealing with important issues such as immigration, infrastructure spending and coming up with appropriate trade policies. The United States is the world’s wealthiest country, with [...]
The General Electric Co. has a storied, 110-year history as one of a handful of companies that were at the center of American capitalism and industrial innovation. GE created the first incandescent light bulb, [...]
For the first time since such record-keeping began in 2000, the number of job openings has exceeded the number of jobless. U.S. job openings rose to 6.7 million, the Labor Department reported on June [...]
The May labor report showed that the American economy is booming. Strong hiring indicated that economic growth is likely to accelerate this year, after increasing at a modest 2.2 percent annual pace in the [...]
Over dinner the other night, a good friend asked me about my outlook on the stock market. Having been a corporate bond trader for most of my Wall Street career, I have learned that [...]
The United States has advocated free trade policies of unrestricted imports and exports since the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944. This principle of refraining from imposing tariffs or quotas remained the case even after [...]
Last Tuesday, Spotify, a superstar in the music-streaming sector, went public employing a very unusual initial public offering. Spotify listed existing shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange without relying on investment bankers [...]
I find it difficult to realize that I started writing “Doc’s Prescription” in March 2008. During the subsequent decade, both our economy and I reached rock bottom and pinnacles. My first column dealt with [...]
The pension funds of state and local governments and corporations are facing a total shortfall of up to $6 trillion. Some 200 multi-employer pension plan companies face bankruptcy. And unless this fiscal shortfall is [...]
“The hypocrisy is astounding. Every one of these Republicans complained about President Obama’s deficits and now they have put forward a trillion-dollar deficit.” — Sen. Rand Paul Members of both political parties criticized U.S. [...]
On Wednesday, Apple said it would spend approximately $350 billion in the U.S. over five years on domestic jobs, manufacturing and data centers. The impetus for Apple’s decision was the Tax Cuts and Jobs [...]
Where have all the public companies gone? According to the Center for Research in Security Prices, the number of companies that sell stock to the public on the exchanges has shrunk since 1996 by [...]
Workers in the tightest American labor markets are finally receiving pay packages that are growing faster than inflation. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal on Jan. 1, in cities such as [...]
The U.S. economy is on fire. According to the Atlanta Fed’s model, the gross domestic product is headed for a 4.5 percent annualized growth pace in the fourth quarter. The U.S. economy has enjoyed [...]
In recent months, evidence has increased that the high-yield bond market is under pressure. While this class of bonds rated below investment grade continue to trade near all-time highs, concerns are mounting beyond what’s [...]
Trump’s visit to Asia, he continued his efforts to shake up the world economic order and in the process raised fundamental questions about America’s global role. Trump voiced his belief that America should act [...]
President Trump’s nominee to be Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, is expected to continue the Fed’s restrained approach to reversing the central bank’s crisis-era stimulus policies. This would mean gradually raising short-term interest rates [...]
Canada, Mexico and the United States are involved in contentious negotiations to update the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Trump administration has offered a series of hard-line proposals that the U.S. Chamber of [...]
Last Wednesday, the Federal Reserve officially announced it will begin reducing its balance sheet. The $50 billion-per-month decrease would cut its holdings below $3 trillion by 2020. But even that figure is almost four [...]
The twenty-first century promises breakthrough opportunities for American women, who have led the recovery of our workforce participation rate.Women, especially those in their late 20s and early 30s, have been responsible for 40 percent of [...]
William Cohan, one of America’s most respected financial journalists, has written an excellent, well-balanced book about Wall Street. Cohan argues that, despite the flagrant misbehavior by some Wall Street firms that led to the [...]
Federal Income Receipts $3.66 Trillion Social Security, Medicare Taxes 29% $1.070 Trillion Personal Income Taxes 42% $1.549 Trillion Corporate Income Taxes 9% $332 Billion Excise, Estate, Gift Taxes 8% $295 Billion Borrowing to Cover [...]
The weaker dollar is helping corporate earnings, which is good for U.S. investors. Multinationals’ earnings will rise because they have substantial overseas sales, which are paid for in foreign currencies. Converting these foreign currencies [...]
Exchange traded funds have grown to hold more than $4.1 trillion for the first time, according to HFR, a publisher of information on ETFs and hedge funds. These financial products strive to match the [...]
On Wednesday, Volvo became the first mainstream automaker to say that all models it introduces in 2019 will be either electric-gas hybrids or powered solely by batteries. It is a bold move to lead [...]
In response to major progress on their balance sheets, the Federal Reserve has given the nation’s big banks a green light to take capital risks that appear to dull the teeth of the Dodd-Frank [...]
President Trump wants to make the U.S. coal industry “great again.” The president has repeatedly said, “We are going to get those coal miners back to work.” He derides the Obama administration’s “job-killing Environmental [...]
‘Give me a one-handed economist. All my economists say ‘On one hand, then but on the other .’” — Harry Truman On Friday, the Labor Department reported seemingly good news: Unemployment fell to 4.3 [...]
Amazon last week celebrated its 20th anniversary of going public. Today, according to several reports, half of U.S. households subscribe to the company’s Prime service offering free shipping and other perks for $99 a [...]
Over the past few months, the investment community has begun focusing on the steps the Federal Reserve might take to reduce its current balance sheet, which now amounts to some $4.3 trillion. Because the [...]
The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates Wednesday by 25 basis points, to 1 percent, and the U.S. central bank has indicated it plans to raise rates aggressively. Most economists expect the [...]
Last week, the Standard & Poor’s stock index increased to a record high market capitalization above $20 trillion. This compares with $5.9 trillion when the market hit a low on March 9, 2009. It [...]
