Unfortunately, COVID-19 is well into its second year of affecting supply chains, prices and product availability around the world. Global trade plays an extremely important role in product availability and pricing with supply chains playing a crucial role in both. In 2020 the COVID pandemic had a significant, negative impact on global trade and supply […]
More...Tag Archives: Economy
What’s Up With Inflation?
The rate of inflation in the United States is generally measured by the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is a weighted average of prices for a basket of consumer goods and services, including transportation, food, and medical care. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the change in the CPI each month. […]
More...The Economy – Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going
This article was originally a part of the Center for Business and Economic Insight Spring 2021 Presentation. The United States is emerging from one of the most challenging and unique economic periods in its history. This challenging economic period was different from others. The economic downturn wasn’t the result of financial market problems or other […]
More...The Creative Economy: Life After the Pandemic
by Greg Wright, M.A., executive director at CREATE Portage Countyand UWSP Professor of Economics Jason R. Davis, Ph.D. This article was originally a part of the Center for Business and Economic Insight Spring 2021 Presentation. Regional economic development has traditionally focused on using tax incentives to attract businesses and create jobs while leveraging strong public […]
More...The American Rescue Plan: Stimulus Checks, Taxes and Unemployment
The American Rescue Plan has been signed into law by President Biden. To obtain passage by both the House and Senate, the Act was modified from what was initially proposed by the Biden Administration. The modifications include lower income limits for stimulus eligibility and the elimination of any increase in the minimum wage. This blog […]
More...Corporate Taxes: The Difference Between the Corporate Tax Rate and Taxes Paid
Another topic that generally gets discussed a lot in economics (and politics) is corporate taxes. It’s also one of the more complex subjects, because it is not always easy to determine what a company actually pays in taxes. It can be done, but it’s not necessarily easy. The primary objective of this blog is to […]
More...Explaining the American Rescue Plan
President Joe Biden has unveiled his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which would be the third major economic stimulus plan in response to the detrimental impacts of COVID-19. In March 2020, the largest fiscal stimulus in the history of the U.S. was passed by Congress – the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security […]
More...Divisiveness and the Economic Challenges of 2021 – Challenge #6: Wages
Over the last three decades, the United States enjoyed positive economic growth in 27 out of 30 years. How did economic growth affect wages? Did everyone benefit? Not really. In 2019 the Congressional Research Service (CRS) released an analysis of real wage trends over the period 1979–2018. The Congressional Research Service is part of the […]
More...Divisiveness and the Economic Challenges of 2021 – Challenge #5: U.S. Economic Leadership
Now let’s look at Challenge #5 of the Divisiveness and the Economic Challenges of 2021 – U.S. Economic Leadership. Does it matter how the U.S. is perceived by other countries if it wants to be an economic leader? Well, it does. If the United States wants to be the global economic leader and be a […]
More...Divisiveness and the Economic Challenges of 2021 – Challenge #4: Healthcare
It’s time to continue with our Divisiveness and the Economic Challenges of 2021 series with Challenge #4 – Healthcare. One positive thing to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic – the demonstration of the commitment, dedication and excellence of U.S. healthcare workers. The technological capabilities and advances in healthcare, combined with the dedication of healthcare […]
More...