Lewis & Clark Economics Department

Welcome back LC students! Hope everyone is all situated with their classes and ready to take on this Fall Semester 👍🏼

Happy Friday! As the year is wrapping up, take a break from paper-writing and studying for exams to read about the impact of the booming ma*****na industry on job growth in the United States:

Cannabis, Ma*****na, W**d, Pot? Just Call It a Job Machine As legalization spreads, listings for cannabis-related positions on recruitment sites have soared. But working in the industry comes with caveats.

Unemployment is near the lowest it has been in 50 years. However, job layoffs are up 35% from the beginning of last year. Read about possible reasons why from CNBC here:

Job layoffs surge 35% to highest level to start a year in a decade Total cuts hit 190,410, a 10.3 percent increase from the fourth quarter and 35.6 percent jump from the same period a year ago.

The CNBC Fed Survey for March predicts that economic growth will slow down rapidly this year and next. Read all about this and the other findings of the survey here:

US economic growth is likely to slow sharply this year and next, according to CNBC's Fed Survey The average forecast for GDP growth this year is just 2.3 percent because of the trade battle and slowing global growth, the March survey found.

The economic growth that we saw in 2018 is beginning to soften. Check out this CNBC article and have a great weekend!

Fed says US economy ended 2018 with solid but weakening growth The U.S. economy maintained "solid" growth through the second half of 2018, likely expanding "just under" 3 percent for the year, though consumer and business spending had begun to weaken, the Federal Reserve said on Friday.

What impact did the government shutdown have on the economy? Take a look at these two articles offering two different views of the effects:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/01/31/what-trumps-shutdown-did-economy/?utm_term=.1c50d58fe0a6

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/01/business/economy/jobs-report.html

Opinion | What Trump’s shutdown did to the economy Consumer confidence is the lifeblood of the U.S. economy

Welcome back Pios! We hope you had a restful break and are ready to get back into the swing of things. Take a look at this New York Times article that discusses the economic impact of the government shutdown:

Shutdown’s Economic Damage Starts to Pile Up, Threatening an End to Growth The White House doubled its estimate of the shutdown’s drag on growth, and other economists warned a long stalemate could push the economy into a contraction.

Did you know that all LC students and faculty now have unlimited online access to the New York times (with an .edu email)? Test it out by reading this NYT article about the impacts of President Trump's trade war with China on the stock market.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/business/stock-market-activity.html

Stocks Fall Back Into Negative Territory for 2018 Major stock indexes dropped again Friday, in Wall Street’s third decline this week.

Good morning Pios! Take a look at this CNBC article that claims the Trump Administration's tariffs will raise prices but not bring more jobs to the United States:

US manufacturers say Trump tariffs will bring higher prices, not more jobs The Trump administration's widening trade war is going to raise prices for U.S. consumers, but it won't bring back many manufacturing jobs that have moved overseas, according to a survey of more than 800 U.S. companies. 

Roses are red,
short-term oil supply is inelastic,
if you read this article,
then your weekend will be fantastic ;)

The oil price swings dramatically Blame the turmoil on American policy

Hello Economists! Take a look at this incredibly cool conference that aims to diversify economics and economic-related fields through the mentorship of black women! https://www.sadietannerconference.org/

If you are interested, it is likely that funding could be secured for your attendance to the conference. For further information, contact Professor Aine McCarthy at [email protected].

THE SADIE TANNER COLLECTIVE Sponsored by ​Mathematica Policy Research