The plunge the U.S. economy took during the pandemic in spring 2020 was precipitous, with economic charts that resembled steep cliffs. In April 2020, industrial output fell 12.7%, the worst drop seen in a century of record-keeping. Entire industries shut down virtually overnight. In two months (March and April), employers cut 22 million jobs, more Read more
Inflation Worries: Will the Tide Rise Higher?
In April 2021, consumer prices rose sharply, driving the rate of inflation to the highest level since 2008, which sparked concern among investors though the Federal Reserve says the rise is temporary and will soon ebb. In contrast, the current rate of inflation has jumped to 4.2% in April. Despite the fact that at this Read more
Growing Green: A Look at ESG Investing
Driven by demographics and investors’ desires to get ahead of both the effects of social change and an expected wave of regulation, we are seeing a boom in sustainable and socially conscious investments, popularly known by the shorthand acronym ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance). This kind of socially responsible investing, also known as sustainable, green, or ethical Read more
Heading for Home: The Housing Market Soars
In a mostly dreary 2020, one bright spot was the residential real estate market. After briefly retrenching at the beginning of the pandemic, home sales exploded, even as a dearth of homes on the market and low mortgage rates caused prices to skyrocket. Those rising prices lifted home values, creating more wealth for homeowners. Now, Read more
The Debt: Who Owes and How Will It Affect the Economy?
Debt, simply defined, is an amount of money borrowed by one party from another. Debt is used by many corporations and individuals as a method of making large purchases that they could not afford under normal circumstances. The U.S. government uses debt in the same way, though it hasn’t been as central an issue in Read more
The 2021 Outlook: How Can We Recover From 2020?
As 2020 has ended, we began to look forward to 2021 in hope the year arriving will be better than the one just departing. How could it not be, after months filled with pandemic, toxic politics, and violence in the streets? What do we anticipate for the economy in 2021? Given the promise of the Read more