Ask an Economist

The short answer is, no. By law, the U.S Fed is an independent authority in charge of the monetary affairs of this nation. The White House cannot formally ask or force the Fed to do anything.

It is common for industries to claim that they create jobs outside the industry, especially when they are seeking government subsidies.  A few years back, a consultant for the Iowa ethanol industry claimed that ethanol was responsible for 90

My best understanding is that the acquisition you indicated was completed in 2007, but Aramark retained its identity as a company.

How very thoughtful and considerate a project you have in mind!

I am assuming you have to keep the cell or wifi plan and you are just upgrading the fixed cost of a new router or cell phone. Let’s take the smartphone/cellular plan case.

The most correct way should be adjusting inflation according to each country's inflation data before converting the values to NZD if New Zealand is the baseline to compare with.

1) The coronavirus is everywhere.  It is not obvious it would affect the U.S. dollar differently than the Euro or Yen or Yuan.  All the governments and economies are stressed, and so relative values will be unaffected.

When banks lend out money, they do so expecting repayment.  If banks are not repaid, the value of the loan decreases.  By law, banks are obligated to value their loans at the fair market value.  Mandating that all repayment stop wou

Thank you for these interesting questions. As they indicate, you are already well aware of potential distortions associated with tax policies.

Thank you for your question! These ideological "definitions" and distinctions can be quite confusing and arbitrary.

While it is true that lower prices at the pump benefit consumers, stock markets also infer that low oil prices signal weak demand for oil, in this case from travel-related fears due to the corona virus.

The adverse effects of the minimum wage depend on how high it is compared to the prevailing wage in the area.  Because wages are higher in San Francisco than Des Moines, a $15 minimum wage in San Francisco, where the median wage is $25.11, is

The U.S.

No, there is nothing preventing non-profit organizations from offering insurance.

Private developers will identify profitable opportunities from constructing toll roads; the current road system may be too congested or outdated, or an undeveloped route may have potential to be lucrative.

I found a policy report that might be a little dated (2013) but I think is probably still relevant. You can find the report here: <https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41897.pdf>

As many observers have noted, economists are not especially good at forecasting the future.