With the U.S. administration's tariffs underway, the likelihood of a global trade war is becoming increasingly foreseeable to many economists and trade industry experts. However, Moody's Investors Service reported on March 22 that the current measures will only have a limited impact on China's economy. Unlike 10 years ago, Moody's reported, China i...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. Economy Next Salvo of Trade Restrictions Aimed at China By the end of the week, the Trump administration will be hitting the Chinese with another round of tariffs and trade restrictions that could cost the Chinese some $30 billion. The focus of these restrictions has been technology related. The U.S. has accused the Chi...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. Economy Consumer Confidence Hits 14-Year High This is more than a little confusing to economists. Not that we always expect the data to be consistent, but generally speaking, when there is an anomaly of some kind, it is resolved one way or the other. Thus far, there is a pretty significant division between what consumer...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. Economy Expectations Remain in Place Among Most Economists There have been some fluctuations as far as the threat of inflation is concerned. The thought had been that low unemployment would have triggered the rise of wages by now, but they have remained stubbornly low. The inflation threat from higher prices for commodi...

Infrastructure investment in Argentina has dwindled in recent years, but a new public-private partnership (PPP) program might give the country a much-needed boost over the next four years. The PPP program will feature a $26 billion investment beginning this year through 2022 for roads, energy and mining, communications, water, sanitation and housin...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. Economy What Is Wrong With the Consumer These Days? If there is anything that can be counted upon in the world of the economy, it is that U.S. consumers know how to consume. We are the most diligent of spenders and have been for decades. Our mantra is, "I can't be broke, I still have checks in my checkbook." When we are...

The 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law giving the U.S. government regulation over the financial industry is headed toward a rewrite that would ease tight restrictions on small banks and community lenders. Following the U.S. Senate's vote to approve the revised bill on March 14, the legislation is making its way to the U.S. House of Representative...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. Economy Conference Board Indicators Rise From time to time, I think we have mentioned that gauging the level of employment is always tricky. This is, at best, a moving target; people somehow refuse to be easily categorized. The Conference Board has put together a more complex index that tries to look at multiple factors...

Although reverse factoring is becoming an increasingly popular supply-chain finance option around the globe, proper accounting procedures should be in place throughout the process—an arrangement that fell short and may have caused the demise of U.K. construction giant Carillion, which collapsed in January. According to an article in Supply Chain Ma...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. Economy Mortgage Rates Start to Become Real Headwind The idea of housing market headwinds has been discussed all year; yet there has not been all that much reaction. The price of homes has been going up. In some parts of the country, this has managed to price a lot of people out of the market (part of what has been driv...

With U.S. government plans in motion to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, industries in the sector are left wondering what potential risks might be coming their way in regards to future business operations. A direct impact on the nation's steel and aluminum producers will most likely be "limited," said Fitch Ratings; however, retaliatio...