But if the dream scenario does arrive, another risk is lurking: A burst of new spending and economic growth coupled with the massive amount of fiscal stimulus in the system — possibly including nearly $2 trillion more under the White House’s latest plan — could lead to a sharp spike in inflation. That would send […]
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Like McCain, the moonshine-swigging former quarterback isn’t afraid to let his colleagues know where he stands on a given day, either in the hallways of the Capitol or on cable news airwaves. Manchin often publicly discusses how he’s struggling with issues or tough votes. In a nod to his state, he lives on a boat […]
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Crisis averted: Yoo’s withdrawal signals the end of months of uncertainty over who will lead the WTO for at least the next four years. Yoo and Okonjo-Iweala were the last candidates from an initial field of eight and the first women to be seriously considered for the role. Roberto Azevêdo of Brazil stepped down as […]
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A passer-by walks past a business storefront with store closing signs, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020, in Boston. | Steven Senne/AP Photo The economy will bounce back over the next several months, even without more stimulus aid from Congress, but employment levels are unlikely to fully recover until 2024, the Congressional Budget Office forecast Monday. Much […]
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Biden wants $1.9 trillion. Republicans want a lot less. POLITICO’s Victoria Guida breaks down what would really save the Covid economy — and why we shouldn’t care too much about the price tag … for now. Biden “can’t press on the accelerator by himself,” Zandi said. “He desperately needs Congress to kick into gear here.” […]
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Powell declined to comment directly on whether more relief was needed but emphatically rejected fears that more direct checks could lead to troubling price spikes — doubling down on the Fed’s pledge to keep interest rates low to allow as many people back into the labor force as possible. Inflation has remained muted for years, […]
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“Without further action, we risk a longer, more painful recession now — and long-term scarring of the economy later,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told senators last week at her confirmation hearing. The U.S. government spent its way to a record-busting $3.1 trillion budget deficit in fiscal 2020 — and that was before Congress passed another […]
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Economists say one factor that likely increased jobless claims in the past two weeks is a government financial aid package that was signed into law in late December. Among other things, it provided a $300-a-week federal unemployment benefit on top of regular state jobless aid. The new benefit, which runs through mid-March, may be encouraging […]
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Faced with years of declining prices and shrunken foreign markets, farmers have been struggling throughout the Trump administration. Trump officials have tried to mend food producers’ finances by doling out billions in assistance in order to keep the industry afloat. The move: Trump’s USDA steered billions in subsidies to farmers suffering from tariffs imposed by […]
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The pandemic will likely continue to weaken the economy through the winter and perhaps early spring. But many economists, along with the Federal Reserve’s policymakers, say they think that once the coronavirus vaccines are more widely distributed, a broad recovery should take hold in the second half of the year. The incoming Biden administration, along […]
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