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☆ ‘We’re All Climate Economists Now’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Lydia Depillis | More About Lydia Depillis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

There were papers on the local economic impact of wind turbine manufacturing, the stability of electricity grids as they absorb more renewable energy, the effect of electric vehicles on housing choices, how wildfire smoke strains household finances. Janet Currie, the incoming president of the American Economic Association, chose an environmental economist, Michael Greenstone of the University of Chicago, to deliver the conference’s keynote lecture. He focused on the global challenge of shifting to renewable energy and the corresponding potential to alleviate air pollution that is particularly deadly in developing countries like India and Indonesia. “This isn’t just a series of topics, but it’s a big, interrelated problem,” Dr. Currie said. “Not only economists but everybody else is realizing that this is a first-order problem, and it’s affecting most people in some way.

Persons: Monika Piazzesi, Janet Currie, Michael Greenstone, Dr, Currie, “ Organizations: American Finance Association, American Economic Association, University of Chicago Locations: Venice, India, Indonesia

☆ Job data suggests ‘soft landing’ is increasingly likely, economists say
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Luis Alvarez | Digitalvision | Getty ImagesThe U.S. economy inched closer to a so-called "soft landing" after a new batch of labor data, economists said. Why a soft landing is like 'Goldilocks' porridge'Steaming bowl of oatmeal porridge, made with Irish oats, wheat berries and barley. A soft landing is like "'Goldilocks' porridge' for central bankers," Brookings Institution economists wrote recently. How the labor market fits inWhy the job market is already 'back into balance'The latest labor data added to encouraging news about a likely soft landing, economists said. Despite the large monthly decline, job openings are still 25% above their February 2020 level, she added.

Persons: Luis Alvarez, Jason Furman, Obama, Jon Lovette, Julia Pollak, Pollak Organizations: Digitalvision, Federal Reserve, U.S . Department of Labor, Labor, Harvard University, White House Council, Economic Advisers, Getty, Fed, Brookings, American Economic Association

☆ The debt ceiling deal could lead to 750,000 older Americans losing SNAP benefits
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The debt ceiling deal could lead nearly 750,000 adults to lose their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits. SNAP benefits, or food stamps, give monthly funds to low-income individuals and families for food purchases. CBPP noted that high denial rates and long wait times for receipt of disability benefits has made accessing SNAP benefits increasingly difficult. CBPP research noted that the existing work-reporting requirement does not increase employment or earnings but do lead thousands to lose their food benefits. Are you an older American who relies on SNAP benefits and who could be affected by this change?

Persons: —, CBPP, Kevin McCarthy, Joe Biden, Cori Bush, Ed Bolen Organizations: Assistance, SNAP, Service, Budget, Congressional, Office, Democratic, CNBC, American Economic Association Locations: Missouri

Reuters GraphicsThe U.S. central bank is already adjusting to one unanticipated set of changes - an outbreak of inflation coupled with stalled growth in the U.S. labor force. "You have to identify the regime change ... Then you have to understand the transition dynamics ... and have a clear vision and insight into all of those ... "Markets calibrated to ... Chinese growth and low interest rates may prove fragile." Like recessions, which are typically identified only well after they have started, other economic turning points aren't always apparent in the moment. But as evidence of that accumulated following the 2007-2009 recession, it was only embodied into Fed policy in 2020 under a new approach that leaned against premature interest rate increases.

"Because of the lags involved, policymakers are going to face a very difficult decision about when to stop rate increases or reverse course," Romer said in a keynote address to the American Economic Association's annual meeting in New Orleans. Minutes of the most recent Fed policy meeting in December showed central bankers struggling with the risks, while economists see a high probability that the rate increases will lead to a U.S. recession in the coming year. She collaborated with Berkeley economist David Romer, her husband, to mine Fed meeting transcripts and minutes dating back to the 1940s for the review of U.S. central bank policy. Isolating the shocks, she said, allows a clearer view of how Fed rate increases influence economic output and employment, and over what time frame. Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Dan Burns and Paul SimaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Nearly 165 million people were either in jobs or looking for them last month, a record high that showed a long-hoped-for improvement in labor supply. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsThe jobs report is "the embodiment of the soft landing narrative - this idea that can you have a strong labor market with slowing wage growth," said Simona Mocuta, chief economist at State Street Global Advisors. Ideally, she said, that should allow the Fed to slow and soon pause its interest rate hikes. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsTraders took the report as evidence the Fed's work is near to being done. Still, she said, "inflation remains far too high, despite some encouraging signs lately, and is therefore of great concern."

☆ Fed doesn't set policy in global vacuum: Mester
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester poses during an interview on the sidelines of the American Economic Association’s annual meeting in San Diego, California, U.S., January 3, 2020. REUTERS/ Ann Saphir/File PhotoSept 26 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve takes into account global factors like the strength of the dollar as it sets interest rates, though it ultimately makes policy decisions based on domestic goals, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said on Monday. "We've seen what's going on in financial markets. The mechanism will be through the financial markets, and whether they are functioning or not," Mester said on a day of heightened financial market volatility that included a steep drop in the value of the pound. "We are going to set monetary policy that's appropriate for the U.S. economy, but we don't set it in a vacuum thinking that we are an independent island and we are not connected to the rest of the world."

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