Today we are fortunate to have a guest contribution written by Jeffrey Frankel, Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth at Harvard University, and former Member of the Council of Economic Advisers, 1997-99. This post is an extended version of an earlier column at Project Syndicate.
When Will the Governor’s Promise of 250,000 New Private Sector Jobs Be Achieved?
Not within the next couple of years, according the Walker Administration’s Wisconsin Economic Outlook, released today.
Energy prices and consumer spending
Among the disappointments in the 2015:Q1 GDP figures was weak consumption growth, which was a little surprising given the extra cash most consumers have on hand as a result of lower energy prices. I wanted to take a look at how the recent consumer behavior compares with what we’ve seen historically.
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April Employment Situation: Revisions, Energy Extraction, Manufacturing
The April Employment release confirmed continued growth in total and private employment. My observations: some modest downward revisions, and some sectoral trends diverge.
Guest Contribution: “Asia Games: Not Zero-Sum”
Today we are fortunate to have a guest contribution written by Jeffrey Frankel, Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth at Harvard University, and former Member of the Council of Economic Advisers, 1997-99. An earlier version of this post appeared at Project Syndicate.
Trade (Head)Winds
Chinn-Ito Financial Openness Index Updated to 2013
The Chinn-Ito index revised and updated to 2013 is now available here.
Kansas Short Term Economic Outlook: Not So Great
Here’s the Philadelphia Fed’s revamped coincident index and the six month forecast for Kansas economic activity.
Economy stalls in the first quarter
The Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that U.S. real GDP grew at a 0.2% annual rate in the first quarter. And that was even after a big inventory build-up from goods produced but not sold. Taking out the inventory contribution, real final sales fell by half a percent at an annual rate.
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Newly Revamped Coincident Indices Indicate … Wisconsin Still Lags
and is forecasted to continue to lag.