Friday

The calendar has flipped, the fireworks have faded, and most resolutions have already been broken.  A new year can bring a sense of renewal, or at least the illusion of a fresh start.  But in the world of federal policy, the first few days of a new year can give way to what was.

Happy New Year! Today is the first business day of 2026, so let’s spend some time talking about businesses. Last year was a strong one for some of the most noteworthy companies. Rising revenues coupled with improved productivity helped usher in large gains in profitability.

Here we are the day after Christmas, and many countries are now celebrating Boxing Day.  In nations like the UK, Canada, Hong Kong, and Nigeria, this day was born in the tradition of charity.  Wealthy employers would often give servants the day off to enjoy and provide them with boxes containing everything from food and gifts to bonuses.  You may have noticed America is not conta

In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Juliet reflects that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” In other words, the essence of the thing (in her case Romeo), not the label, is what truly matters.

The Federal Reserve left the door ajar at Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, not fully open nor closed, but just wide enough to keep markets guessing about the next steps.

The National Association for Business Economics (NABE) is a professional group of applied economists, strategists, and policy specialists who use economic analysis in business, finance, government, and academia. Each month, NABE publishes an economic outlook. The most recent edition, the November 2025 NABE Outlook Survey, suggests the U.S.

Normally this space would be reserved for the October 2025 Industrial Production release from the Federal Reserve.  Alas, it was not published due to challenges caused by the government shutdown.  Instead, we’ll take quick look at one of the components of our nation’s industrial output: utilities.  More specifically, we’ll explore how all the computing power nee

Markets like stability whether its economic, geopolitical or otherwise.  Stability helps buyers and sellers agree on the current and potential future values of a variety of financial and real estate assets, thus driving their prices.  As stability wanes, the spectrum of expected outcomes stretches, inviting a broader range of opinions about potential future values.

Pennies have officially been discontinued in the United States, ending more than 230 years of production. The final batch was minted in mid-2025, and no new one-cent coins are planned for circulation. This decision follows years of debate over the rising cost of minting pennies, which now costs about four cents per coin.

This year, Halloween spending is set to break records, casting a festive but even slightly spooky shadow over consumer wallets.  According to the National Retail Federation's annual survey, Americans are projected to shell out a chilling $13.1 billion, a climb from last year's $11.6 billion and surpassing 2023's previous high.  Despite concerns about higher prices, especia