Business Perspectives

Confluence of Structural and Cyclical Change Clouds Outlook for 2008 and Beyond

As an extension of previous arguments, it now appears that Americans' greatest fears about the simultaneous appearance of two economic forces, inflation and recession, may become a reality in 2008. The positive impact that the recent interest rate reductions and federal fiscal stimulus package may have on the nation's growth may be more than offset by the declining value of the dollar and the price inflation generated from higher oil, food, transportation, commodity, import, and consumer pric...

...And the Hill Becomes a Mountain!

The overwhelming influence on the Tennessee Valley's economy for 2008 will be the national economy, and the national economy quickly deteriorated as 2007 came to an end. This relatively rosy scenario came to an end over the summer of 2007 as the problems with subprime mortgages spilled over into financial markets, with uncertainty as to size of losses and affected assets and with accompanying credit restrictions imposing restraints on economic growth. The Tennessee Valley's economy will gener...

The World Economic Outlook for 2008

Pressures from financial market turbulence, declines in the housing industry, and escalating oil and commodity prices will trigger a significant economic slowdown in the US. The severity and duration of the slowdown in US growth will cast a shadow on the outlook for the overall world economy in 2008. Continued, although slowed, economic growth is expected for China, India, and Asian emerging economies, while weak economic growth is forecast for Europe and the UK The Federal Reserve's ability ...

The Arkansas Economic Outlook for 2008

The Arkansas economy expanded in 2007 despite mixed signals and abundant evidence of declining growth going into 2008. The main source of weakness stemmed from ongoing struggles in the large manufacturing base in the state. While manufacturing represented a larger share of total employment as compared to the national share, it experienced the first cyclical period from the last recession without rebound or employment contribution to the state in modern economic times. Although output is up an...

Kentucky's Economic Outlook for 2008

The economic outlook presented in this paper is for the three-quarter period from January to September 2008. In terms of fiscal years this period is the second half of FY 2008 and the first quarter of FY 2009. The economic outlook is identical to the one the Consensus Forecasting Group used in arriving at their forecast this month. The dominance of the goods-producing sector in the state economy is expected to be responsible for slow growth in Kentucky. During the final two quarters of FY 200...

The Louisiana Economy

An examination of the Louisiana economy provides a study in contrasts. Not only is the state split between two Federal Reserve Districts, it is similarly geographically split between those areas severely affected by the hurricanes of 2005 in the South and those fortunate enough to largely escape the wrath of nature in the North. Economically speaking, Louisiana is mainly driven by large southern metro areas at or below I-10 which were affected by the hurricanes-most -- importantly New Orleans...

The Mississippi Economic Outlook, 2008

The economic future is never certain, but it looks especially risky at this early stage of 2008. The subprime mortgage credit crisis, $90-$100 per barrel oil, falling consumer and business confidence, weak December 2007 employment growth, Christmas retail sales that fell 0.4%, and a falling stock market are the foundations upon which industry must build a state economic forecast. There have certainly been some positive developments in the employment picture over the 1997-2007 period. Positive...

An Economic Summary of Missouri

The Missouri economy, like that of the US, continued to grow in Calendar Year 2007, but has come up against the strong currents of the housing and auto manufacturing slowdowns. After peaking at record levels in the spring, Missouri employment declined slightly into the autumn. According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics' data, through November 2007, the state gained 12,000 jobs over the previous twelve months, growth of 0.4%, and 87,900 jobs since January 2005. Missouri's economic outlook over...

Still Chilly After All These Years: A Longitudinal Study of Corporate Board Composition in Tennessee

The reasons for women's poor representation on boards of directors continue to be mostly the same. Increasing the presence of women on corporate boards is a business imperative: adding women on boards can have an important signaling effect to employees, shareholders, and the external business community. A 2007 study by Stephen Brammer, Andrew Millington, and Stephen Pavelin found more women on the boards of retail establishments, utilities, media organizations, and banking firms and suggested...

Subprime: Boon or Bain?

Last year was the year when the term "subprime" became a part of everyday speech and was often followed by any number of other terms in the media. Americans have all become numbed by the hypnotic mantra of subprime statistics; they are all tired of hearing about it. Even if they do not have a subprime mortgage loan or live in a neighborhood adversely impacted by foreclosures or have a retirement account that invested in collateralized debt obligations secured by subprime mortgages, they know ...

The Credit Crunch: A Domino Effect

In the shadow of the spotlight focused on the faltering nationwide housing market comes the all-encompassing catch phrase "credit crunch." However, the term is neither a prophet of doom nor is it unique only in light of housing, especially subprime mortgage loans. Like dominoes, many factors impacted the economy to cause the current credit crunch, which, in turn, will impact other economic factors. To best understand the problem, it is necessary to define the term credit crunch. According to ...