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 [...]
"It always seems impossible until it’s done." -Nelson Mandela I recently heard a presentation on climate change and read a book “Life After Carbon” by Peter Plastrik and John Cleveland. Plastrik and Cleveland highlighted [...]
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 [...]
I have just returned from a very exhilarating experience, the John Hopkins Cancer Symposium, sponsored by Erwin and Stephanie Greenberg. In brief, all of us would be elated to learn about the incredible breakthroughs [...]
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 [...]
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Ilan Berman wrote an editorial that frankly surprised me. In brief, Berman highlighted America’s concern that Israel’s growing political and economic relationship with China has sinister implications. Specifically, John [...]
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 [...]
The New York Times reported the appalling statistic: The police kill an average of 17 people every day in Brazil. Rogue officers are killing even more off duty For over a decade masked gunmen [...]
Ted Van Dyk, who has been active in Democratic National policy and politics for 40 years, wrote an excellent editorial for the Wall Street Journal. In brief, Van Dyk worries that despite President Trump’s [...]
On November 15th, the New York Times wrote an article Florida State Player Fled Crash but Got Only Traffic Ticket. The NYT investigative reporter found the following: On October 5th, the FSU starting cornerback [...]
Cancer: What You Need to Know, by Stephen Rosenberg Introduction Dr. Stephen Rosenberg spoke at our CTAC 2019 event and wrote this very informative book that we help all of us cope with cancer. [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Greg Ip wrote an excellent article in which he discussed America’s changing role from a stabilizer of the world to a disrupter. In brief, Ip argues that solving the [...]
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 [...]
Our Coming Together Against Cancer Fundraiser will provide funding to help Dr. Gorin (one of our panelists from John Hopkins) develop a novel imaging technique to address problems within the field of urologic oncology. [...]
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 [...]
Today’s Wall Street Journal highlighted the failure of the Job Corp program. The condemnation of the Job Corp confirms my disappointing experience as an Intern for the US Employment Service in the summer of [...]
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 myself in an unusual position as the debate rages over personal data and social media companies. I am a social media klutz who rarely looks at Facebook and doesn’t have Twitter or LinkedIn [...]
