Recently there has been a lot of buzz about implementing a form of flat tax, a 30% national sales tax, to replace the current tax structure. This blog provides a simple (yet realistic) example to demonstrate the implications for taxpayers if the currently proposed federal national sales tax of 30% was implemented. Prior to the […]
More...
Overview First, a few definitions. The federal budget deficit refers to the amount U.S. federal government spending exceeds government income. To finance a budget deficit, the government borrows money from the public through the issuance of U.S. government debt called U.S. Treasury securities. The Total Public (Federal) Debt Outstanding represents the total (principal) amount of Treasury securities […]
More...
Overview No economic issue was more politicized in the November elections than inflation. It was one of the most important issues to voters, and the most important economic issue. In a rare show of unity, both Democrats and Republicans agreed that inflation was a problem. However, specific short-term solutions to current inflation were more problematic […]
More...
The August inflation report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that although the annualized rate of inflation declined slightly, inflation remained at a relatively high rate. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 8.2 percent (seasonally adjusted) for the 12 months ending in August, down slightly from the July rate of 8.5%. Month […]
More...
There are two broad factors that affect prices – demand and supply. Generally, inflation is caused when there is a change to one of these factors. If the supply of goods is reduced for a given demand, prices (inflation) will increase until a higher price level is reached that balances the demand to match the […]
More...
It’s not just a U.S. thing, it is global. Increased gas prices and inflation are not just confined to the U.S. They are global problems because global factors have impacted gas prices and contributed to inflation. The unprovoked military attack by Putin against Ukraine created uncertainty in global energy markets given that Russia is the […]
More...
Just Like Old Times by Scott Wallace, Ph.D.Director and Editor, CBEI; Professor of EconomicsUW-Stevens Point School of Business and Economics Photo Album | Digital Report Recent times have been both interesting and challenging with the spread of the Delta variant interrupting a return to normalcy that we were all looking forward to. Now, the emergence […]
More...
University of Chicago professor of economics, Walmart chief economist and UW-Stevens Point Distinguished Alumnus John List ’92 returned to campus March 3-4 to speak about his experiences of scaling great ideas and shared stories from the White House and Chicago Heights schools to Uber and Lift. [View Photos] List presented “The Voltage Effect: How to […]
More...
As the military tensions heat up between Russia and the Ukraine and the political tensions increase between the United States and Russia, this blog provides a brief summary of Russia’s energy importance. Russia is a major player in global energy and is particularly important for Europe and China. Table 1 below shows the 10 largest […]
More...
The events of the last two years are ones that few Americans thought they would ever see. The performance of the U.S. economy as we enter 2022 continues to be unprecedented in many ways. The gradual changes that typically occur in a normal business cycle for economic growth, the labor market, and inflation were replaced […]
More...