NEW YORK (Project Syndicate) —The global financial and economic outlook for the year ahead has soured rapidly in recent months, with policy makers, investors, and households now asking how much they should revise their expectations, and for how long. That depends on the answers to six questions. Six questions First, will the rise in inflation…
If you want to know why Americans are so grumpy about the economy, let’s start with the fact that despite strong job growth and sizable increases in wages, their incomes are simply not keeping up with inflation. Americans just don’t feel poorer — they are poorer. In fact, they have never lost so much purchasing…
The threat of recession amid a shrinking economy may force a return to the office for employees. Or the end to the office as we know it. Those are the two wildly differing opinions emerging on the future of the work-from-home movement, which has become a way of life for tens of millions of Americans…
Read More “A recession could force more employees back to the office – or never return” »
It’s easy to want to duck for cover given the carnage seen this year in stocks and bonds, particularly with the Federal Reserve vowing to wage an unconditional battle against high inflation. While inflation running at a 40-year high still sits near the top of the list of worries for many investors, another potential bugaboo…
US stock indexes were higher in choppy trade Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated his commitment to combat inflation, while also suggesting the economy was strong enough to withstand higher interest rates. How are stock indexes trading? The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA gained 125 points, or 0.4% to trade around 30,643, after…
High inflation and rising interest rates are slamming the brakes on US growth, economists say, but there’s still a narrow chance to avoid a second recession in three years. The outlook is not looking good, to be sure. The economy shrank in the first quarter for the first time since the onset of the pandemic….
Read More “The odds of recession are rising, but the US economy is not doomed to a downturn” »
From Wall Street to Main Street, fears that the US economy could be sliding into the 1970s-style “stagflation” have been percolating. References to the sticky situation appeared in news headlines all week. The Associated Press called it “the dreaded ‘S’ word.” The Wall Street Journal reminded readers of the neologism’s origins as a catchy way…
The Human Cost is a new MarketWatch column looking at the toll world events have taken on people’s lives. Colleen Champagne, 65, a Dallas-based retiree, says she can’t bring herself to discover how her retirement accounts have performed lately. “I can’t even look at my portfolio,” she told MarketWatch. “I have a pension from my…
