Category Archives: Free Market

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Friday, November 6, 2020:  

Hard on the heels of Wednesday’s report from ADP showing the economy adding more than 400,000 jobs in October came the announcement from the U.S. Labor Department: Job gains were closer to 640,000. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were expecting just 530,000 new jobs in October.

When considering that this reflected the layoff of some 147,000 government census workers in October, the economy’s rebound last month was, in one economist’s words, “amazing.” Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors, said:

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Thursday, November 5, 2020: 

When Kim Kavin, co-founder of Fight for Freelancers, learned that California voters passed Proposition 22 overwhelmingly on Tuesday, she was delighted: “Everybody is celebrating today.… We are just thrilled about this one result.”

But her organization is located in New Jersey, on the opposite side of the country from California. And Proposition 22 is just simply another

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Wednesday, September 30, 2020:

The Conference Board reported on Tuesday that its index of consumer confidence jumped in September by the biggest increase in 17 years. The index clocked in at 101.8 for the month, up from 86.3 in August. Economists were expecting a reading of just 89.6.

Inside that index were two indicators driving the increase: how consumers feel about the economy right now (98.5 currently, up from 85.8 in August) and how consumers feel about the next six months (104 currently, up from 86.6 in August).

On Wednesday morning, payroll processor ADP reported that

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, September 21, 2020: 

Three of the world’s largest investment banks — Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank — are optimistic about stocks in the coming months, and for good reasons: a strong housing market, the improved chances for a COVID-19 vaccine in the near future, the increasing likelihood of President Trump’s reelection, a strong GDP number in the third quarter, economic momentum left over from 2019’s amazing performance, and forecasts of the robust recovery extending into 2021.

Goldman Sachs analyst David Kostin told his clients last week to expect the S&P 500 index, currently trading around 3,260, to close the year at 3,600 and at 3,800 by next summer: “Despite the sharp sell-off [in stocks] we remain optimistic about the path of the U.S. equity market in coming months … [the] economic data show a continuing recovery.”

Wells Fargo’s chief investment officer, Kirk Harman, told CNBC on Tuesday,

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, March 23, 2020: 

In an interview with CNBC on Monday morning, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urged small business owners — the most important driver of job creation and economic growth in the U.S. economy — to keep paying their people even while their businesses are shut down: “If you’re a small business [owner], we ask that you not lay people off.”

The Federal Reserve is working closely with his agency to create a Main Street Business Lending Program that would give those owners an unsecured “bridge loan” to allow them to continue to pay their employees during the economic shutdown — a loan that would later on be forgiven once the threat of the virus has ended and their businesses have reopened.

The initial amount intended for the program is $300 billion — an enormous amount in absolute terms, but tiny in terms of the size of the U.S. economy. It could be, and likely will be, extended and expanded as officials such as Mnuchin begin to understand the damage the shutdown has already caused to the economy.

Thousands of small businesses are already on the brink of insolvency, with bankruptcy for many of them just around the corner.

The ripple effect of just one coffee shop shutting its doors is enormous.

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Wednesday, July 29, 2020: 

The U.S. Department of Commerce reported on Wednesday that exports of goods from the United States jumped from $90 billion in May to more than $102 billion in June, an eye-popping 14-percent gain. This had the effect of reducing the trade deficit by six percent and adding that amount to the country’s measure of economic output.

The rebound was led by an astonishing 144-percent surge in shipments abroad of both motor vehicles and motor parts. Other capital goods sent to foreign consumers soared 11 percent, while consumer goods exported increased by more than 12 percent.

And this report from the Commerce Department doesn’t include travel or tourism, which is likely to show similar gains when they are reported next week.

Two weeks ago, President Trump celebrated his administration’s success in reducing regulations much more than he had promised during his campaign, rolling back nearly eight regulations for every new regulation enacted. For the first time in years, instead of adding to the federal register (the Obama administration added more than 16,000 pages), his administration removed nearly 25,000 pages of regulations.

The New American recounted on July 17 how the economy has rebounded from the COVID-inspired shutdown, at least partially, due to the improved regulation environment: