Sound Economics

Thursday, September 24, 2020 University of Oregon professor Tim Duy spoke to the University of Puget Sound economics department on the Federal Reserve’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Duy is a UPS alumnus, and continued at University of Oregon to receive his M.S. and PhD in economics. His blog Tim Duy’s Fed Watch keeps readers up to date on new monetary policy and Federal reserve updates. Duy split his presentation into two parts: first, the direct response of the Fed to the pandemic; second, the innovations that the Fed implemented to update its policy for post-pandemic monetary policy. “This is Continue reading Tim Duy and The Fed’s Response to COVID Pandemic→

While many people have been discussing the deficient racing bailouts, or the many fed open market operations, a less discussed occurrence is the end Reserve Requirements. Reserve requirements, are a regulation that the Federal Reserve puts in place that mandates the amount of liquidity that banks must hold relative to their total liabilities and has been a useful tool for preventing bank collapse.  While the reserve requirement as a tool, has a long and storied history dating back to the early 1900s, its status as a mandatory regulation is as recent as the 1980s. So in some ways the end to Continue reading Saying Goodbye to the Reserve Requirements→

As many of my fellow 2020 graduates know, there is a palpable feeling of loss that exists as we end our college career. Not only did we have our senior year cut short, but many of us missed out of the goodbyes and natural endings that would have acted as a capstone on our college career. Now it is very important to note that these do not matter comparatively to what is going on in the world with impoverishment, death and sickness, but it is part of the emotional costs felt by graduating students this year. These emotional costs are Continue reading What it means to graduate During a Recession→

Just as the 1970s was characterized by hyper inflation, it looks like the 2020s may be characterized by deflationary cycling. Specifically, I am referring to the recently negative prices of oil futures that occurred around a month ago. Despite these crazy circumstances it appears that there are still many pundits, politicians, and economists grousing about inflation, it does appear we are entering a deflationary period. I think this is clearly partially to blame on the upbringing of the current stock of politicos, and economists that has led to the current stock of inflationary hawks. If we take that many of Continue reading Oil Prices, and the Views of Economists→

As counties begin to lift stay at home restrictions, factory workers are increasingly susceptible to contracting COVID 19, as it is very challenging to social distance in a production line. Measures involving taking the temperature of workers and distancing during breaks have been employed, yet little has changed regarding the close proximity workers are in on the production line itself. Many of amazon’s workers have chosen to voice their concerns regarding the warehouse conditions, and most of those who have spoken up have been fired or warned that this is intolerable.  Emily Cunningham, one of amazon’s workers who spoke up, Continue reading Essential workers fired for speaking up about COVID19 health risks→

In past recessions, we have seen that high levels of uncertainty hold a strong influence on economic performance. Lack of confidence or uncertainty involving expectations discourages decision making; essentially, businesses find that the cost of investing or making a costly decision exceeds the hoped-for benefit, given that there is no baseline upon which to estimate the likelihood of the optimal situation’s occurrence. With this said, it is important to pause and discuss the distinction between risk and uncertainty, as these terms are often used interchangeably.  The unfavorable outcome of a known risk can be insured against during the decision-making process Continue reading How people, rather than policy makers, drive the economy in times of uncertainty→