The CBO estimates that in Q2–2020, real (inflation-adjusted) GDP will contract by 11 percent, equivalent to a decline of 38 percent at an annual rate. The number of people employed in Q2–2020 will be about 26 million lower than the … Continue reading →
Over the past decade, private equity firms have invested heavily in retail. These firms generally acquire companies through leveraged buyouts with the goal of holding the company for a number of years, increasing its value and then selling it to … Continue reading →
Total industrial production (a measure of mining, utility and factory output) fell by a seasonally adjusted 11.2 percent in April, according to the Federal Reserve. Manufacturing output (the largest component of industrial production) decreased 13.7 percent in April from the … Continue reading →
Bitcoin, the number one cryptocurrency by market value is trading at around $9,852.22 – up nearly 160 percent from the March 12th low of $3,867, according to CoinDesk. About 85 percent (25.79 million) of the addresses holding the cryptocurrency are … Continue reading →
According to an analysis by Denver-based CoBank, meat inventory for grocery stores could decrease by about 30 percent this Memorial Day because of COVID-19-related meat plant slowdowns and shutdowns. This could lead to retail pork and beef price inflation of … Continue reading →
A container ship departing from a port in Asia arrives on the U.S. West Coast about two to three weeks later and on the East Coast about four to five weeks later. According to American Shipper (citing data from Copenhagen-based … Continue reading →
California has borrowed $348 million in federal funds so that it can continue paying out unemployment benefits during the Coronavirus pandemic, according to The Wall Street Journal. About 3.7 million people have filed unemployment claims in the Golden State since … Continue reading →
Treasury securities (also referred to as “Treasuries”) are debt obligations of the U.S. government. The federal government borrows by issuing Treasuries in the forms of bills, notes, bonds and inflation-protected securities (TIPS), depending on the maturity. These debt obligations are … Continue reading →
Using data from the financial statements of all publicly traded firms covering all sectors of the U.S. economy over the period 1955-2016, a paper by Jan De Loecker, Jan Eeckhout and Gabriel Unger finds that aggregate markups (the cost-weighted average … Continue reading →
The labor share of national income is the amount of GDP that is allocated to wages. Labor’s share has been declining in the U.S. since the 1980s with about three-quarters of the overall decline between World War II and 2016 … Continue reading →