America's Economic Future – A Discussion By Ted Kavadas
One of the criticisms I have read of the “Cash for Clunkers” stimulus is that the program is poorly administered. It seems disconcerting that such a seemingly simplistic program like the “Cash for Clunkers” program is poorly administered. One is led to wonder how more complex programs will be managed. The effectiveness, and efficiency of how …
“Get your share of the stimulus!” is a slogan that has typified the auto dealer advertising for the “Cash for Clunkers” program. For many reasons, I think that the “Cash for Clunkers” program is highly flawed on an “all things considered” basis and should have never been legislated. Without writing a “book” on the subject, here are a …
I’d like to make a brief comment about the “bank bonus” story that came out a few days ago. Here is one article on it, titled “Bank Bonus Tab: $33 Billion” from The Wall Street Journal on 7-31-09: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124896891815094085.html#articleTabs%3Darticle Needless to say, it seems outrageous that such bonuses, in said amounts, were paid out so …
On July 26th Ben Bernanke said, “”I was not going to be the Federal Reserve chairman who presided over the second Great Depression.” The quote and associated details can be found here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124865498517982625.html I found the quote interesting primarily as it once again underscores the popularity (or should I say fixation) that many people, including …
Businesses have reacted to the tumultuous economic conditions in many ways. A logical action has been to reduce cash outlays to a level appropriate to what the new economic conditions seemingly warrant. Along these lines, expenses have undergone scrutiny and in many cases have been cut, in order to preserve cash as well as improve profitability …
In addition to the adversity and financial strains suffered by firms during this period of economic weakness, there exists significant uncertainty on many fronts. As mentioned in the last post, many businesses would find any further economic weakness to pose a formidable challenge. Although economist forecasts are predicting a weak economic recovery from here, economic forecasts have proven less than accurate the last …
The economic weakness that has occurred has caused a significant amount of financial damage. This can be seen in a variety of indicators and statistics, such as widening credit spreads, defaults, credit downgrades, etc. These worsening conditions have been accompanied by a curtailed (in many cases severely) access to credit. Whereas credit and other types …
The economic weakness that accelerated in the latter months of 2008 and into 2009 played out in a very “tricky” fashion. Very few mainstream economists foresaw what would happen. A testament to the complexity of the situation as 2008 progressed was the business shows airing arguments during the summer as to whether the economy was even in …
“As unemployment approaches 10%, what is less well publicized is that the number of “underutilized” workers in the U.S. has increased dramatically from 15 to 30 million. Those without jobs, as well as those individuals who only work part-time and have become discouraged and stopped looking, total 30 MILLION people. The number is staggering.” -Bill …
The following story from CNBC.com will serve as a good prelude to a series of posts I will write on joblessness and hiring. It discusses the widely-held (among economists) view that we are entering a “jobless recovery.” : http://www.cnbc.com/id/32104155 It is important to note the commonality of the concept in economists’ forecasts. As I mentioned on June 9, …