Economists

HONG KONG—Economists said the $146 billion in stimulus measures that Chinese policy makers unveiled this week to prop up the battered economy are unlikely to significantly alter the country’s growth trajectory.After unexpectedly lowering two key interest rates in mid-August, Beijing stepped up efforts to shore up growth as the country continues its stringent Covid-19 strategy while it also faces a deep property slump and the most severe drought in decades. The State Council, the country’s cabinet on Wednesday approved…

To limit misinformation, some social networks have limited how widely users can share posts. Credit: Gerd Altmann via Pixabay Controlling the spread of misinformation on social media platforms has spurred important conversations about censorship and freedom of speech. …

Economists believe that when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks on Friday at the annual Jackson Hole research conference, he will need to thread a needle between signaling what the central bank must do soon regarding interest rates and what it needs to do with rates over the longer run. Addressing those questions means conditioning market expectations for the size of an almost certain interest rate increase in September, and what the Fed plans to do with rates longer term when recession…

U.S. job openings are estimated to have remained robust in June while easing from higher levels earlier in the year amid a broader economic slowdown.Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal estimated the Labor Department will report there were 11 million openings in June, down from the record of 11.9 million in March but still historically high. Dante DeAntonio, an economist at Moody’s Analytics, estimated that job openings fell below 11 million in June.…

Senate Democrats’ tax and spending proposal would likely help cool inflation slightly but most of the effects won’t be felt until later this decade, economists said.Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) have framed the agreement as a way to fight galloping inflation, which hit 9.1% in June, a four-decade high. The deal announced Wednesday raises some taxes and limits prescription drug price increases, both of which would help slow inflation,…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Unemployment insurance is a lifeline for many people when work goes away. And when times get really bad in the U.S.—in recessions and during the COVID-19 pandemic—Congress has extended the duration of unemployment benefits for millions of workers. …

U.S. inflation is estimated to have reached a new four-decade high in June, but falling gasoline prices and discounting at some retailers could be signs of moderating price pressures, economists say.The consumer-price index is expected to have increased 8.8% in June from the same month a year ago, according to economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. That would be higher than May’s annual rate of 8.6% that led Federal Reserve officials to shift to a faster pace of benchmark interest-rate increases, according to…

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MIT economists studying individual income data in Ecuador found that international trade generates income gains that are about 7 percent greater for those at the 90th income percentile, compared to those of median income, and up to 11 percent greater for the top percentile of income. Credit: MIT NewsUsing Ecuador as a case study, economists show international trade widens the income gap in individual countries.International trade intensifies domestic income inequality, at least in some circumstances, according to a new…

Price pressures that have driven U.S. inflation to a four-decade high likely remained elevated in May, pushed up by rising energy and food costs, economists say.The Labor Department on Friday is estimated to report that the consumer-price index rose 8.3% in May from the same month a year ago, the same as in April, according to economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. April’s inflation reading was slightly below a 40-year high reached in March and marked the first monthly easing of price increases since last August.…