Normally, at this time of year, I write an economic/stock market blog, with both a backward analysis of the year behind us and a forecast of what might be facing us in the incoming year.
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The recent overhaul of the student loan program by the Federal Government made headline news—not surprisingly. As part of the budget bill that was passed in July of last year, massive cutbacks in the graduate school portion of the loan program will go into effect on July 1 of this year, essentially unraveling a more than twenty-year-old initiative designed to support students looking to enhance their careers by studying for and obtaining graduate degrees in their professions.
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Michael Lewis has just published another book—this one in collaboration with six other writers, each of whom is renowned as an author. The title: WHO IS GOVERNMENT? and the subtitle: The Untold Story of Public Service were intriguing.
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The globalization of economies—that of the U.S. as well as most of the rest of the world—began in earnest in the early 1980s when China was entering the global trading sphere. But as early as the 1920s, American companies had already started building manufacturing plants in Europe—both General Motors and Ford Motor Company were in Germany…
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Don’t panic!!! There’s a strong likelihood that you are not alone witnessing the fall in your retirement fund assets. I’d be willing to wager that just about anyone with a 401(k) plan—or other tax-advantaged defined contribution retirement plan—who is more than twenty years from retirement, is in the red for the first three months of this year.
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For more than a few decades, increases in college tuition have significantly outpaced the rate of inflation in this country. Today, approximately 70% of undergraduate students are entering the job market with some level of debt in the form of a student loan, often as much as $40,000.
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The stock market is one, among a number, of leading indicators of the U.S. economy. Other such indicators include: new orders for both nondefense capital goods and also for consumer goods; consumer confidence; building permits for new homes; retail sales; and initial claims for unemployment insurance. The strength or weakness of those pillars of the economy are harbingers of future growth or decline in the GDP.
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It is apt today, as we await with anticipation the decision next week regarding a possible reduction in the level of the Fed Funds’ rate, to replace “the Walrus” with “Jerome Powell,” the current chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Fed).
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