CERF Blog
In late 2008, U.S. banks accelerated consolidation driven by intense Federal government pressure (many failing banks were “saved” by being acquired by a larger bank). This yielded a banking structure where today the largest five U.S. banks control over 44 percent of the nation’s banking assets. The five largest U.S. banks held assets of $6.7… Read more
Here’s what the OECD has to say about the global economy: But the global economy can be characterised (sic) as only achieving a muddling-through “B-minus ” grade. Global growth in the first quarter of 2015 was weaker than in any quarter since the crisis. And although this softness is seen as transitory, productivity growth continues… Read more
Since the dismal first-quarter GDP was revised down, we’ve heard all sorts of excuses. These include bad winter weather and problems in the seasonal adjustment process. The bad-winter excuse has been popular for several winters now. Of course, as I’ve said before, strong economies absorb bad winters with minimal impact on output, GDP. Now, we hear… Read more
It’s generally agreed that excessively lax lending standards were major contributors to the financial crisis that precipitated the Great Recession. So, Washington wants to do it again, only more. Here’s part of what Investors.com has to say: In a just-released federal report, the administration portrays these “credit invisibles” as victims of a traditional credit-scoring system.… Read more
Tyler Cowen has a piece in the New York Times today. He’s arguing that fundamental weaknesses and dysfunctions may be causing permanent changes, a reset: The debate over the economy these days isn’t just about income inequality and what should or should not be done about it. Perhaps the most crucial issue is whether economies will… Read more
Two new reports came out today indicating that the U.S. economy is weaker and more fragile than we thought. Productivity dropped for the second consecutive quarter, and hiring slowed. It appears that a weak global economy and the United States increasingly onerous regulatory environment is more than offsetting and stimulus from lower oil prices.
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released their first estimate of the fourth quarter 2013 Gross Domestic Product today. The estimate indicates that the economy grew 3.2 percent in 4th quarter. This followed a 4.1 percent growth rate in quarter 3 which followed a 2.5 percent growth rate in quarter 2. The growth in… Read more
The preliminary estimate of United States third quarter economic growth was released today. The growth number is 2.8 percent, stronger than any of the three quarters prior. The quarter 2 growth rate was 2.5 percent, and the quarter 3 result beat our forecast of 1.3 percent. This was despite slowdowns in the growth of consumption… Read more
U.S. economic growth accelerated from 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 to 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013. This acceleration was driven mainly by increases in consumption growth and inventory investment. Another factor was that government expenditure was less of a negative contribution to growth in first quarter by about half… Read more
Fourth quarter United States GDP contracted by about $5 billion dollars, which is 0.1 percent negative growth annualized. This is after 3.1 percent growth in the third quarter which was the strongest quarter in 2013. The largest drivers of the fourth quarter decline were a contraction in government spending of 6.6 percent and a change… Read more
