Category: GDP

Capitol Report (Oct. 27): Factors Driving Rise in GDP Could Be Fleeting; Liz Cheney Endorses Democrat

While President Joe Biden cheers the economy, warning signs emerge as mortgage rates hit a two-decade high. What do the latest GDP numbers say? Republican Liz Cheney, after being ousted by voters, is now working against Republicans’ efforts to win the majority this November. The Trump critic has just endorsed a Democrat. A China affairs…


How Good Is the GDP News?

Commentary We would all welcome good economic news. Even better, we would welcome a healthy economy. We have now a headline number that seems fine—an inflation-adjusted increase in Gross Domestic Product annualized at 2.6 percent. But right now, we are nowhere near finding our way back to economic health. The worrying signs are everywhere. The…


US Economy Grew 2.6 Percent in Third Quarter Estimate but Future Outlook Cloudy

The U.S. economy rebounded in the third quarter after contracting for the first six months of this year, giving fuel to the view that the world’s largest economy may not be in a recession, though mounting signs of economic weakness suggest it may well again dive into negative territory. Government data released on Oct. 27…


US Economy Grew 2.6 Percent in 3rd-Quarter Estimate but Future Outlook Cloudy

The U.S. economy rebounded in the third quarter after contracting for the first six months of this year, giving fuel to the view that the world’s largest economy may not be in a recession. However, mounting signs of economic weakness suggest it may well dive again into negative territory. The economy expanded at a 2.6…


The Power of One: China’s Xi Secures Third Term

Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping is now the country’s most powerful ruler in decades. Surrounded by loyalists, where will he lead the nation? Markets may hold the answer. Hong Kong stocks are plummeting to new lows, alongside China’s currency. New concerns arise over Taiwan. Chinese army officials who had helped monitor the island have…


Britain’s GDP Shrinks by 0.3 Percent in August

The UK’s GDP is estimated to have shrunk in August by 0.3 percent, triggering new fears of a recession. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday said that production in August fell by 1.8 percent and services fell by 0. 1 percent. The biggest contributor to the fall in production is manufacturing, which dropped by…


Federal Financial Mess

Commentary Even before the recent spate of spending legislation, the authoritative Congressional Budget Office (CBO) warned of the precarious state of Washington’s finances. Its figures show that the relentless growth in entitlements will push up budget deficits and add to the nation’s already heavy accumulation of public debt. By 2032, the CBO concluded, outstanding government…


The Fed Just Predicted a Fairly Lousy Economy—and the Markets Noticed

Commentary The Federal Reserve (Fed) announced on Sept. 21 that it raised interest rates by 75 basis points (bps), or three-quarters of a percentage point. The decision came a day after the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta dropped its much-watched estimate of third-quarter 2022 GDP (“GDP Now“) to just 0.3 percent on Sept. 20, after…


CBO Releases Estimate of Biden’s 2023 Budget, Hiking Taxes Part of Proposals to Increase Federal Revenue

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its estimate of the Biden administration’s annual set of budgetary proposals to Congress, and examined how the proposals, if enacted, would affect budgetary outcomes in relation to CBO’s baseline projections. Based on CBO projections, President Joe Biden’s proposals will have the effect of budget deficits totaling $13.1 trillion over…


German Economic Institutes Cut 2023 GDP Forecast on Energy Price Surge

BERLIN—Three of Germany’s leading economic institutes lowered their forecast for Europe’s largest economy next year, predicting high energy prices caused by the Ukraine war would take their toll. The IfW institute in Kiel and Halle’s IWH predicted on Thursday that the economy would contract in 2023, a U-turn from June forecasts that predicted growth of…