HubbardOBrienEconomics.com Blog

Image generated by ChatGPT People have collected sports cards for decades. For many years, the most sought-after and highest-priced example was a baseball card featuring Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Honus Wagner. In the early twentieth century, baseball cards were often included in packs of cigarettes. In 1909, each pack of Sweet Caporal Cigarettes included a baseball card from what collectors … …

Image generated by ChatGPT This morning (June 5), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its “Employment Situation” report (often called the “jobs report”) for May. The report showed a stronger than expected increase in employment.  The jobs report has two estimates of the change in employment during the month: one estimate from the establishment survey, … Continue reading "Surprisingly St…

Image generated by ChatGPT The period between the two World Wars—the 1920s and 1930s—is often called the Golden Age of Mystery Novels. Authors such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers in the United Kingdom, and Ellery Queen (pen name of cousins Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee) and Mary Roberts Rinehart in the United States, topped the … Continue reading "A View of the Wealthy in a 1930’s Mys…

Image of the White House generated by ChatGPT Note: In this opinion column, Glenn discusses issues—including the U.S. current account deficit, the role of the U.S. dollar in the international financial system, and the effect of the exchange value of the dollar on the U.S. economy—covered in Macroeconomics, Chapter 18 (Economics, Chapter 28). This opinion … Continue reading "Glenn’s Policy Advice …

Image created by ChatGPT The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released two reports this morning (May 28): “GDP (Second Estimate) and Corporate Profits, 1st Quarter 2026” and “Personal Income and Outlays, April 2026.” The BEA revised downward its estimate of real GDP growth in the first quarter of 2026 from an annual rate of 2.0 … Continue reading "New BEA Releases Show Slower Growth and High Inf…

Image of the MacBook Neo from apple.com The United States hasn’t exported more goods and services than its imported since 1975. The following figure shows the U.S. trade deficits since 1949 as a percentage of GDP. (In this figure, we’re measuring the trade balance as net exports rather than the trade balance as reported in … Continue reading "Why Doesn’t Apple Manufacture the MacBook Neo in the U…

Image generated by ChatGPT Today (May 12), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its report on the consumer price index (CPI) for April. As expected, higher energy prices resulting from the conflict in Iran led to a jump in inflation. The following figure compares headline CPI inflation (the blue line) and core CPI inflation (the red line). Headline inflation … Continue reading "CPI Infla…

Image generated by ChatGPT This morning (May 8), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its “Employment Situation” report (often called the “jobs report”) for April. The report showed a stronger than expected increase in employment.  The jobs report has two estimates of the change in employment during the month: one estimate from the establishment survey, often referred … Continue reading …

Image created by ChatGPT of the Department of Commerce building in Washington, DC The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released two reports this morning: “GDP (Advance Estimate), 1st Quarter 2026” and “Personal Income and Outlays, March 2026.” The BEA estimates that real GDP grew at annual rate of 2.0 percent in the first quarter of … Continue reading "Two Releases from the BEA this Morning Show…

Screenshot of Fed Chair Jerome Powell at his FOMC press conference on April 29 Today’s meeting of the Federal Reserve’s policymaking Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) had the expected result with the committee deciding to leave unchanged its target for the federal funds rate at its current range of 3.50 percent to 3.75 percent. The … Continue reading "FOMC Holds Its Target for the Federal Fund…

Image created by ChatGPT This opinion column was first published on Project Syndicate. Adam Smith on the U.S. Midterms The Wealth of Nations offers a useful lens for understanding why US President Donald Trump’s mercantilist agenda has fallen short of its own stated goals. It also points to a better path, combining competitive markets with … Continue reading "Glenn on Adam Smith and the Midterm E…

The Marriner S. Eccles building, headquarters of the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC. Image from federalreserve.gov. The following opinion column appeared in the Financial Times. What Warsh Should Do at the Fed Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as chair of the Federal Reserve comes at a pivotal time for the American economy and for … Continue reading "Glenn’s Advice for Kevin Warsh"

What happens when the Fed chair’s seat is about to change hands—and inflation still won’t behave? In this episode of the Hubbard & O’Brien Economics Podcast, Tony O’Brien and Glenn Hubbard break down the looming transition from Jerome Powell to Kevin Warsh, what the latest inflation and energy-price pressures mean for interest rates, and why … Continue reading "NEW! 4-11-26 Podcast – Glenn Hubbar…

Image generated by ChatGPT This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its report on the consumer price index (CPI) for March. Yesterday,  the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released monthly data on the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index for February as part of its “Personal Income and Outlays” report.  Both reports showed … Continue reading "A Double Dose of B…