The disappointing March report on consumer price inflation is the fodder for this week’s Inside Economics podcast. The team considers just how big of a disappointment it was, and conclude it turns on second and third significant digits. Yes, that’s what it has come to when assessing just when Fed officials will feel sufficiently confident that inflation is headed back to their target and begin to cut rates. Of course, there are threats to the inflation outlook, most immediate being higher oil prices, which the group takes up.   Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

Moody’s Analytics colleagues Elise Burton, Dawn Holland and Olia Kuranova join the podcast this week to discuss global female labor force participation and how it has changed since the pandemic. They identify a few key reasons for the recent narrowing of gender participation gaps, explore the economic impact of increased female participation, and discuss ways in which policymakers could encourage more women to join the labor force. To read more on the gender participation gap: Click Here Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

The March 2024 jobs report was picture perfect. Cris thought he had found a blemish in the numbers, but on closer inspection, not so much. Dante and Marisa explained how the economy could create so many jobs without fanning wage and price pressures. Think foreign immigration. And like stock investors, Mark found plenty to like in the report.    Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

The Inside Economics team is joined by their Moody's Analytics colleagues, Mike Brisson and Steve Cochrane, to discuss the economic fallout from the tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and the subsequent closure of the Port of Baltimore.  Mark Zandi kicks off the show with a rundown of the latest economic data and a healthy debate on the state of household finances ensues.  The statistics game proves challenging even with Marisa providing an important hint. Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

Heidi Shierholz, President of the Economic Policy Institute, joins the podcast to discuss the ongoing skewing of the income distribution. There’s a lengthy list of reasons why more of the economic pie is going to those in the top of the distribution, from less unionization and lax enforcement of labor laws, but you would be surprised to hear what’s not on the list. You may also be surprised that the conversation ends on an upbeat note.   Special guest Heidi Shierholz is the president of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining EPI, she was the Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Labor during the Obama administration. Throughout her career, Shierholz has provided policymakers and economic commentators with research and analysis on labor market dynamics, labor and employment policy, and the effects of economic policies on low- and middle-income families. She is regularly called upon to testify in congress and her research and commentary on labor and employment policy, inequality, racial and gender disparities in the labor market, worker bargaining power, and other topics have been cited in top broadcast, radio, print, and online news outlets. After receiving her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan, she was an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario. She has an M.S. in statistics from Iowa State University, and a B.A. in mathematics from Grinnell College in Iowa.   Check out some of Heidi Shierholz’s recent write-ups: Workers want unions, but the latest data point to obstacles in their path Immigrants are not hurting U.S.-born workers Middle-out economics is good for workers, their families, and the broader economy   Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.  

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

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Listeners of Inside Economics have been demanding a podcast on the nation’s debt, and now they have it.  At least one side of it. We talk deficits and debt with Paul Sheard, former Chief Economist of S&P Global. To Mark and team’s surprise, Paul explains why he isn’t worried about the nation’s fiscal trajectory. More views on this to come.   For more on Paul Sheard's book: Click Here   Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

The Inside Economics team dissects yet another upside surprise in the February jobs report and ponders the mixed messages between the payroll and household surveys. Employment is coming in hot but the unemployment rate rose to its highest level in over a year and wage growth cooled. The team theorizes on why the two surveys are so at odds with each other lately. Finally, they each opine on whether the data are leaning more toward a higher risk of recession or “no landing”. Surprisingly, they’re all in agreement. Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

Amid all the optimism regarding a soft landing for the economy, the Inside Economics team considers what bothers them most about the economy’s near-term prospects. Cris focuses on GDP vs GDI, Marisa on the soft global economy, and Mark on the internals of the labor market. They remain upbeat about the economy, but….   Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

Inside Economics welcomes back Mark Calabria, the former director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. We discuss the current housing affordability crisis and what policymakers should do to address it, the FHFA’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the risks posed by nonbank mortgage companies. The group also takes up the role of the Federal Home Loan Banks. Plenty of debate, and even some agreement. For more info on Mark Calabria For more info on Mark Calabria's book, Shelter from the Storm, click here Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

Mark, Marisa, and Cris take a deep dive into current housing market trends.  They consider the demand and supply drivers that are depressing existing home sales and pushing homebuyers towards new construction.  Along the way, the team deconstructs mortgage rates and provides its best estimate of the nation's housing deficit.  Mark challenges Marisa and Cris to come up with solutions to the housing crisis and wonders if we'll ever experience another sharp increase in foreclosures.   Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

The Inside Economics team is joined by CPI guru and colleague Matt Colyar to discuss the bevy of inflation-related data released this week. First the team dissects the Federal Reserve’s CCAR stress test scenarios and laments the perpetually inconvenient timing of their release. Talk turns to the root causes for the inflation of the past few years and why shelter inflation is so stubborn. The team imagines themselves on the FOMC for a day and what they would do with interest rates going forward.   Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

Bill Adams, Chief Economist of Dallas-based Comerica bank, joins the Inside Economics team to assess the economic outlook and consider a range of economic issues from consumer credit to China’s prospects. We also learned what he is most anxious about, and it isn’t the outcome of the Super Bowl.   For more info on Bill Adams click here Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

Dante joins the podcast to break down the January employment report. Fitting for Groundhog’s Day, the jobs report delivered an eerily similar upside surprise to what we saw in January 2023. Following the January meeting of the FOMC this week, the team discusses what the Fed is likely to do in light of recent data. To access the 2024 Election Model Whitepaper click here  Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

The Inside Economics team revels in the great economic numbers of the past week. The economy not only avoided a recession in 2023, but it ended the year enjoying robust GDP growth and tame inflation. But there are threats at the start of the new year, including a potential seizing up of the all-important Treasury bond market. Samim Ghamami of the SEC joins the podcast to discuss this threat, its causes and implications, and potential reforms to ensure it doesn’t upend financial markets and the economy.     Today’s guest Samim Ghamami is currently an economist at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where he works with the SEC senior management on the reform of the US Treasury market and several other capital market initiatives. Ghamami is also a senior researcher and an adjunct professor of finance at New York University, a senior researcher at UC Berkeley Center for Risk Management Research and the Department of Economics, and a senior advisor at SOFR Academy.  Ghamami has been a senior economist and a senior vice president at Goldman Sachs. He has been an adjunct associate professor of economics at Columbia University. Ghamami has also been an associate director and a senior economist at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Financial Research, and an economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Ghamami’s work has broadly focused on the interplay of finance and macroeconomics, and on financial economics and quantitative finance. His work on banking, asset management, risk management, economic policy, financial stability, financial regulation, and central clearing has been presented and discussed at central banks. He has been an advisor to the Bank for International Settlements and worked as an expert with the Financial Stability Board on post-financial crisis reforms in 2016 and 2017. Ghamami also served on the National Science Foundation panel on Financial Mathematics in 2017 and 2018. Ghamami received his Ph.D. in Mathematical Finance and Operations Research from USC in 2009. His publications have appeared in different journals including Management Science, Journal of Applied Probability, Mathematics of Operations Research, Journal of Financial Intermediation, Journal of Credit Risk, Journal of Derivatives, Quantitative Finance, and Journal of Risk.   Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

Robert Dietz, Chief Economist of the National Association of Home Builders, joins Mark Zandi, Marisa DiNatale, and Cristian deRitis to discuss the outlook for mortgage rates, home sales, and construction activity.  The team delves into the immigration and demographic trends affecting housing demand along with the 5 L's (Laws, Labor, Land, Lending, and Lumber) limiting homebuilding today.  Rob's quoting of Tolstoy catches everyone off guard while the wide-ranging discussion made it difficult for the team to come up with a clever podcast title so we took a cue from Friends.   Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

In this wide-ranging podcast, we tackle the CPI inflation report, the mounting threat posed by cyberattacks on the financial system and broader economy, and the regulatory response. Jill Cetina and Lesley Ritter of Moody’s Investor Service and Joe Lyons of BitSight join us with their insights. And we finally learn how to pronounce Matt’s last name. Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

This week’s podcast focuses on the jobs report for December. The usual cast of characters discusses the job catch-up (not ketchup) in government and healthcare, and its implications. Everyone agreed that despite the considerable cross-currents in the numbers, it was a good report.   Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

John Toohig, head of wholesale trading for Raymond James makes a return appearance on Inside Economics. He last joined us in the wake of the banking crisis this past March, and made the case that the banking system while bowed would not break. He was right.  Join us to hear what John is now saying about the system, loan growth and quality, and what it all means for the Fed and economy. For more on John Toohig, click here Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

In the last podcast before the holidays, Inside Economics chats with Carl Tannenbaum, Chief Economist of Northern Trust about the economy, financial system, Fed and forecasting. The group took as a good omen that they had a Tannenbaum and a DiNatale on the podcast just before Christmas (you may need to Google the names). Not that they attribute their forecasting process to the use of such signs.   For more on Carl Tannenbaum click here Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

The U.S. economy surprised to the upside in 2023 as consumers shrugged off a number of headwinds. With inflation abating and the Federal Reserve facing less pressure to hike interest rates, recession risks are fading. But they can’t be fully discounted given high interest rates, geopolitical turmoil, declining savings, and political uncertainty. Slower growth with somewhat higher unemployment is the most likely outcome. Call it a slowcession.   Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

Michael Strain, resident scholar and the director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) returns to the podcast to discuss the Fed’s big pivot towards rate cuts early next year and the resulting monster rally in stocks and bonds. The discussion then turns to what ails the collective psyche. Think rents and the price of ramen.   For mor information on Michael Strain click here Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

Mark Donovan founder of the Denver Basic Income Project joins Inside Economics to discuss some early results from a guaranteed income program that provides direct cash assistance to unhoused individuals without conditions. Mark responds to a range of criticisms often levied around such efforts. And you don’t want to miss how Tesla is connected to the start of the project’s funding.    Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

Inside Economics discusses the December jobs report, which left Mark feeling “giddy”, Cris “cheerful”, Dante “happy”, and Marisa “great”. The team considers the jobs numbers in the context of other recent labor market indicators which show a resilient but moderating job market. And they end with an assessment of whether the recently boomy labor supply and strong productivity growth are sustainable. Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

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Chris Mayer, Professor of Real Estate Economics at Columbia University and CEO of Longbridge Financial, joins Mark, Marisa, and Cris to discuss reverse mortgages and the state of the residential real estate market. While the single-family market may tread water, multifamily may be in for a serious correction. Mark wonders if we can avoid the fallout from this economic meteor.  For more about Christopher Mayer, click here Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.

Inside Economics considers the economy’s performance and prospects through the prism of the electric utility industry with the Chief Economist of American Electric Power, Dan White.  It was great to catch up with Dan, a former colleague, and get his insight on how American households and businesses are doing. He also ponders the transition to green energy.   Follow Mark Zandi @MarkZandi, Cris deRitis @MiddleWayEcon, and Marisa DiNatale on LinkedIn for additional insight.

Questions or Comments, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.    To stay informed and follow the insights of Moody's Analytics economists, visit Economic View.