Clark Center Forum

For both the real economy and for financial markets there are few variables as important as the Fed Funds rate. The pricing of stocks and bonds, the direction of the housing market and corporate hiring and investment plans are all ultimately affected, to a greater or lesser degree, by the decisions the Federal Open Market […] 

For more than two years inflation has dominated the macroeconomic policy discussion on both sides of the Atlantic. Few would have expected this as late as 2019. At that point, a decade after the financial and banking crisis of 2007-2009, most discussion of inflation in policy and academic circles – and especially in the Eurozone […] 

Almost two years on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, launched on the 24th February 2022, the fighting continues. The extent and future of Western support for Ukraine, together with questions around the effectiveness of the sanctions regime on Russia, continue to be live political issues in the United States and in parts of Europe. This […] 

This Finance survey examines (a) Tesla shareholders are likely to benefit substantially from the decision by the Delaware Court of Chancery to void Elon Musk's $56 billion remuneration package 

This European survey examines (a) The economic and financial sanctions against Russia are substantially limiting its ability to wage war on Ukraine; (b) In the absence of continuing flows of Western economic aid, Ukraine's wartime economy will be substantially compromised 

This US survey examines (a) The economic and financial sanctions against Russia are substantially limiting its ability to wage war on Ukraine; (b) In the absence of continuing flows of Western economic aid, Ukraine's wartime economy will be substantially compromised 

In 1930 John Maynard Keynes wrote of his hopes for the future of his profession. To the modern reader, they seem rather modest. “If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent people on a level with dentists”, he noted, “that would be splendid”. The humility of the ambition is rather refreshing […] 

This European survey examines (a) A constitutional rule that limits the size of budget deficits that governments can run as a share of GDP is an effective way to impose discipline on a country’s public finances;  (b) Germany’s debt brake is a substantial constraint on vital public investment in physical/digital infrastructure and the green transition 

This Finance survey examines (a) On 10 January 2024, the SEC approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products: https://www.sec.gov/news/statement/gensler-statement-spot-bitcoin-011023\
The SEC's approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products makes investors overall measurably better off. 

This US survey examines (a) Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition of US Steel would lead to substantially less employment in the US steel industry than in the absence of such a deal; (b) Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition of US Steel would cause no measurable damage to the American economy