Washington Post (August 17)
“American consumers are increasingly propping up the global economy,” but it’s unclear that they can keep playing this role or even continue propping up the U.S. economy. “A number of signs point to a possible downturn in the United States, economists are growing more skeptical that consumers will continue to open up their wallets as freely. A failure to do so could hasten the arrival of the first U.S. recession in a decade.
Tags: Consumers, Downturn, Economists, Failure, Global economy, Skeptical, U.S., Wallets
Wall Street Journal (May 20)
“The Japanese economy unexpectedly grew in the first quarter of 2019 supported by government spending, although there were some worrying signs connected to the U.S.-China trade dispute.” The economic expansion (2.1% annualized) surprised economists who thought “the first-quarter figure would be flat or slightly negative.”
Tags: China, Economists, Economy, Expansion, Government, Japan, Spending, Trade dispute, U.S., Unexpected
Nikkei (May 19)
“Japan’s economy” looks “on course for a major downturn,” based on a survey of about 1,300 economists. “Should China’s stimulus take hold, concerns about a worsening Japanese economy may be washed away. Yet Japan is constrained not only in its monetary policy, but also in its fiscal leeway considering the heavy government debt load,” not to mention the need for major employment and social security reforms.
Tags: China, Debt load, Downturn, Economists, Economy, Employment. Social security, Government, Japan, Monetary policy, Reforms, Stimulus
New York Times (June 20)
“The United States should stop the scattershot, pointless nonsense on tariffs and go the other way, and hard: It should drop all tariffs, even if the rest of the world doesn’t follow.” Economists have long “understood that free trade is the best policy. Studies show that countries with freer trade have both higher per-capita incomes and faster rates of productivity growth. Economists have also long understood that barriers to trade, while pitched as a way to help domestic workers, always heavily penalize domestic consumers.”
Tags: Barriers, Consumers, Economists, Free trade, Growth, Nonsense, Per-capita income, Productivity, Scattershot, Tariffs, United States, Workers
Reuters (November 3)
“The Bank of England’s first rate rise in over a decade is for now at least a ‘one and done’ move, according to economists in a snap Reuters poll who said the next increase won’t come until after Brexit in March 2019.”
Tags: BOE, Brexit, Economists, Increase, One and done, Rate rise, Snap poll
Bloomberg (August 14)
“The last time Japan strung together this many quarters of growth was back in mid-2006…. The yen has fallen, corporate profits have soared and the economy is running above its potential growth rate. Yet inflation remains stubbornly low, despite massive monetary stimulus from the central bank. Economists are watching intently for signs that the tightest labor market in decades is beginning to bring wage gains.”
Tags: Central bank, Economists, Economy, Inflation, Japan. Growth, Labor market, Monetary stimulus, Profits, Wage gains, Yen
Reuters (October 18)
International sanctions are hitting Russia hard. “Though the Kremlin shows no sign of backing down, it remains unclear whether Russia’s struggling economy can support its global aspirations. Moscow’s 2014 invasion of eastern Ukraine sparked a major recession. Economists have been looking in vain for signs of recovery ever since.”
Tags: Economists, Economy, Global aspirations, Kremlin, Moscow, Recession, Recovery, Russia, Sanctions, Struggling, Ukraine
New York Times (June 26)
“This is just the start of the Brexit’s economic disaster.” Many of Brexit’s supporters distrusted experts and economists who were by and large supporters of the remain campaign. “Experts are, of course, known to make mistakes. But in this case, the people who voted for Brexit will pay a big price for ignoring economic expertise. The harmful effects of this vote are both immediate and lasting.”
Tags: Brexit, Economic disaster, Economists, Experts, Harmful, Immediate, Lasting, Remain campaign, UK
LA Times (March 2)
“Donald Trump is not fit to be president of the United States. Many people have said it—politicians of both parties, economists, pundits, business leaders—but millions of GOP primary voters don’t seem to be listening.”
Tags: Business leaders, Donald Trump, Economists, GOP, Politicians, President, Primary, U.S., Voters
Washington Post (February 17)
“It’s economists vs. the stock market. Economists generally don’t forecast a recession anytime soon,” but the stock market sure seems to be forecasting one. “Who’s right? We’ll know in a few months. Meanwhile, the dispute highlights the incomplete nature of the present recovery, which has lasted a long time but, to millions of Americans, still feels unsatisfactory.”
Tags: Dispute, Economists, Recession, Recovery, Stock market, U.S., Unsatisfactory
