Economic Commentary

January 22, 2021 Chief Economist Scott Brown discusses current economic conditions. As expected, the new administration has hit the ground running. In his first two days in office, President Biden issued executive orders which rescinded a number of previous directives or were aimed at ending the pandemic and easing the pandemic’s economic impact. For investors, […]

January 15, 2021 Chief Economist Scott Brown discusses current economic conditions. Judging by recent phone calls and email queries, inflation is a serious concern among investors this year. We can expect to see some reflation, a rebound in prices that were depressed during the pandemic, but a broad-based increase in underlying inflation is unlikely. Opinions […]

January 15, 2020 Chief Economist Scott Brown discusses the latest market data. For stock market participants, weak economic data has often been taken as a positive, since that implies more fiscal stimulus. However, investors have grown more concerned about possible stumbling blocks. Democratic majorities in the House and Senate are very narrow, some lawmakers are […]

January 8, 2021 Chief Economist Scott Brown discusses current economic conditions. Covid, covid, covid, politics, politics, politics. The new year has yet to show much of a break from 2020. The December Employment Report reflected an impact from the pandemic surge and further job losses in state and local government, but wasn’t bad otherwise. Democratic […]