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The devastating consequences created by the residential mortgage market’s blow-up have been well documented. Now concerns over the broader impact of souring commercial real estate (CRE) loans are on the rise. The value of CRE loans outstanding is significantly smaller than residential loans ($3.5 trillion vs. $11.1 trillion); however, the size
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This week we saw something that hadn’t happened in over a year: growth in real GDP. Indeed, real GDP expanded 3.5 percent on an annualized basis during the third quarter, bolstered by consumer spending, business equipment spending, housing construction and exports. In a bit of a statistical quirk inventories declined sharply yet again, but since
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The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s macroblog provides a good look at the evidence that points to the likelihood that the emerging recovery will be a jobless one. First, despite what has been an appreciable improvement in corporate profits during the third quarter, businesses have chosen to hold the line on hiring new workers as they cope with
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After struggling through the worst downturn in the postwar era, the manufacturing sector is showing some signs of life. Sure, a large share of the rebound in output over the past three months is due to automakers restarting shuttered facilities and expanding inventories depleted by “cash for clunkers”; however, those reasons alone don’t
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This month’s Economist includes an article that goes over some of the developments in the smart grid arena internationally, including efforts to reduce peak demand and integrate renewables into the transmission network. The article describes a California utility’s (PG&E) program to install up to 5 million smart meters in consumers’
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Just when many economists thought the economic recovery might be gaining a little momentum, reality comes along and throws a big bucket of icy cold water on the party. The employment report was by far the worst in a week where economic data had been signaling at least some improvement. Net job losses accelerated to 263,000 and the unemployment rate
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An op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal written by Kevin Warsh, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, is a must-read. Without striking a self-congratulatory tone about their apparent successes thus far in averting catastrophe, the article provides insights into the ramifications of decisions made by the Fed over the past two years
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After enduring the deepest economic downturn of the postwar era, manufacturers are finally beginning to see some signs of recovery. For the second month in a row, industrial production and capacity utilization have posted decent-sized gains. A temporary rebound in the auto industry, thanks in part to "cash for clunkers" demand, certainly helped;
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The recovery watch continues and based on anecdotal reports out of the Fed's Beige Book , economic activity is stabilizing, and even showing signs of improving, around the nation. Indeed, the key question is quickly becoming how strong and steady the gains will be as we emerge from the deep hole we in which we find ourselves. There certainly are
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While we're getting more and more signs that an honest-to-goodness economic recovery might be in the offing, one particularly stubborn segment of the economy continues to cast a lingering shadow: the labor market. Today's employment report did show yet another moderation in the pace of job losses, but we have little reason to celebrate month