Radio Show: Looking Backward, Looking Forward

Mike Smitka Professor of Economics, Washington and Lee University WREL Lexington (VA) is changing its format, so today is my last regular ra...

Really, now: the Fed and "Breaking News"?!

Mike Smitka I was having lunch at a brewpub in Kokomo IN last Wednesday (Dec 16) as the multiple screens over the bar proclaimed "break...

Econ Update: WREL Lexington VA

by Mike Smitka, Economics Dept, Washington and Lee University Sept 17 (here) and Sept 24 (below) The Fed – specifically the Federal Open Ma...

China: yuan depreciation or dollar appreciation?

by Mike Smitka, Economics, Washington and Lee University The coverage I've read focuses, implicitly or explicitly, on the RMB [yuan 元] /...

Employment: tortoise slow, tortoise steady?

Since Summer 2011 job growth has generally outpaced population growth, adjusting for the retirement of the baby boomers. However, it's a...

Promises versus Deliverables: Jeb Bush and 4% Growth

Jeb Bush has set the presidential race pace with a promise of 4% growth . Other contenders, Democratic and Republic, will make similar promi...

Interest rates, inflation and growth

I go through US data periodically for a weekly radio show on W3Z - WREL in Lexington, Virginia. Unfortunately they don't stream their lo...

Interest Rates and Employment: The Taper's Well Camouflaged

Protect Tapirs: http://www.tapirs.org Tapirs are well-camouflaged. So's the taper: you have to look for it. That should not be surprisin...