Ashton Whiteley: After 15 years of falling prices that have plagued the Japanese economy, the end of deflation may be in sight according to official government report.

Ashton Whiteley: Growing inflation and strong recovery in developed economies could spell good news for global economy.

Washington Wheat Speaks Out Against Farm Bill Critics

An inspirational keynote speaker and trainer, Romanella is founder and principal of 3SIXTY Management Services, LLC. He has over 40 years of leadership at Fortune 100's. His approach to leadership can be a game changer.

The first step in the call to action is to build a 100-day plan that will focus on ways to restore confidence and inspire action around a vision of perfection centered on customers and people.

The organization CEOs For Cities released a widely-cited report last month titled Measuring Urban Transportation Performance: A Critique Of Mobility Measures And Synthesis (71p. PDF). Their research finds that the secret to reducing the amount of time Americans spend in peak hour traffic has more to do with how we build our cities than how we build our roads.

The report explains how the cities studied have managed to achieve shorter travel times and actually reduce the peak hour travel times. Some metropolitan areas have land use patterns and transportation systems that enable their residents to take shorter trips and minimize the burden of peak hour travel.

This runs counter to the conclusions of the Texas Transportation Institute's Urban Mobility Report year after year. The CEO For Cities document explains that the UMR approach has completely overlooked the role that variations in travel distances play in driving urban transportation problems.

In the best performing cities -- those that have achieved the shortest peak hour travel distances -- such as Chicago, Portland and Sacramento, the typical traveler spends 40 fewer hours per year in peak hour travel than the average American. Because of smart land use planning and investment in alternative transportation, Portland has seen its average trip lengths decline by 20%.

In contrast, in the most sprawling metropolitan areas, such as Nashville, Indianapolis and Raleigh, the average resident spends as much as 240 hours per year in peak period travel because travel distances are so much greater. The report's 20-page Executive Summary is titled Driven Apart: How Sprawl Is Lengthening Our Commutes And Why Misleading Mobility Measures Are Making Things Worse.

In The New Sharing Economy, a study by Latitude in collaboration with Shareable Magazine, the authors look at new opportunities for sharing.

An interesting graph (click to enlarge) plots various endeavors on a market saturation and latent demand scale. The resulting plot points fall into four quandrants, labeled:

Low Interest and Low Prior Success (e.g. bike, outdoor sporting goods)

Done Well Already (e.g. work space, storage space, food co-op)

Opportunities Still Remain (e.g. physical media, digital media)

Best New Opportunities (automobile, time/responsibilities, money lending/borrowing)

This last category, Best New Opportunities, provides the launch point for discussion of car sharing. The report notes that there's still a large amount of unfulfilled demand for car-sharing. More than half of all participants surveyed either shared vehicles casually or weren't sharing currently but expressed interest in doing so. For people who share in an organized fashion, cars and bikes were popular for sharing amongst family and close friends but weren't commonly shared outside this immediate network, relative to other categories of goods.

This intriguing and visually appealing report goes on to point out the new sharing takeaways for non-sharing businesses, including "we-based brands," the value in social and alternative currencies, and the "contagiousness" of sharing.

Finally, Transportation For America recently released a White Paper titled Smart Mobility For A 21st Century America: Strategies For Maximizing Technology To Minimize Congestion, Reduce Emissions And Increase Efficiency (39p. PDF).

It proposes that improving transportation efficiency through operational innovation is critical as our population grows and ages, budgets tighten and consumer preferences shift.

As Congress prepares to review and reauthorize the nation’s transportation program, an array of innovations that were either overlooked or did not exist at the time of previous authorizations can be incentivized.

Just as the Internet, smart phones and social media changed they way we acquire news, listen to music or connect with friends and family, these same innovations have implications for how we move around. While high-tech gadgets can be a problem when they distract motorists from driving, they open up a whole new world for people using other modes.

But what if we could manage traffic to help drivers avoid congestion before they get stuck in it? What if you always knew when the next bus was going to arrive, the closest parking space or which train car had a seat available for you? The innovative technologies and strategies outlined in the White Paper include:

Making transportation systems more efficient (e.g. ramp meters, highway advisory radio)
Providing more travel options (e.g. online databases to match up vanpool riders, car-sharing services)
Providing travelers with better, more accurate, and more connected information (e.g. computerized vehicle tracking)
Making pricing and payments more convenient and efficient (e.g. EZ passes, electronic benefits)
Reducing trips and traffic (flex-time, consolidating services online)

Learn to Analyze Your Stock Live with an Expert Bear Market Analyst by Martha Stokes CMT - Thursday April 16th - Start at 2pm PDT (5pm EDT)

Umair Haque, director of the Havas Media Lab.

Bob Sutton, professor of management science and engineering at Stanford University and author of the HBR article "How to Be a Good Boss in a Bad Economy."

Darrell Rigby, partner at Bain & Company and author of "Winning in Turbulence."

Daniel Isenberg, professor of management practice at Babson College and author of the HBR article "The Big Idea: How to Start an Entrepreneurial Revolution."

Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School professor and author of the HBR article "Enriching the Ecosystem."

Doc Searls, alumnus fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and author of "The Intention Economy."

The managing director of the International Monetary Fund talks with HBR editor in chief Adi Ignatius.

Erin Meyer, affiliate professor at INSEAD and author of "The Culture Map," on why memorizing a list of etiquette rules doesn't work.

Roger Martin, former dean of the Rotman School of Management, on why talent's powerful economic position is unsustainable.​

Sinéad O'Sullivan, entrepreneurship fellow at Harvard Business School, discusses how space is much more important to modern business than most people realize. It plays a role in making food, pricing insurance, and steering self-driving cars. While moonshot projects from SpaceX to Blue Origin drive headlines, the Earth-facing space economy is booming thanks to plummeting costs of entry. As tech companies large and small compete to launch thousands of satellites, O'Sullivan says we are actually running out of space in space.

Andrew McAfee, co-director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, explains how the U.S. economy is growing and actually using less and less stuff to do so. Thanks to new technologies, many advanced economies are reducing their use of timber, metals, fertilizer, and other resources. McAfee says this dematerialization trend is spreading to other parts of the globe. While it’s not happening fast enough to stop climate change, he believes it offers some hope for environmental protection when combined with effective public policy. McAfee is the author of the book “More from Less: The Surprising Story of How We Learned to Prosper Using Fewer Resources—and What Happens Next.”

The St. Louis Blues are in the midst of a historic run toward Lord Stanley’s Cup. This is especially exciting for St. Louisans as the Blues were in dead last in the NHL as 2018 turned to 2019 with talk… Read More

The post Banking on the Blues: How the St. Louis Economy Could Benefit from the Stanley Cup Finals appeared first on Anders CPAs.

Lyft said rides on its service fell nearly 80% in late March and remained down 75% in mid-April. In May, passengers began to return cautiously to Lyft, but rides were still down 70%, Lyft executives said on a Wednesday earnings call with financial analysts.

The economy has been severely impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the government and policymakers are looking for segments that are in the best position to help revive the economic activity the quickest.

A report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development has forecast that the global economy may see an impact of $1-2 trillion in 2020. How far will the virus impact the Indian economy. Here's a brief overview.

India cannot — and need not — let its economy be sacrificed at the altar of COVID-19 mitigation.

The government (GoI) has so far been very supportive and empathetic towards businesses and was quick to respond through delayed application of few amendments introduced in Finance Act 2020 (FA 2020) along with relief measures on various tax and other statutory compliances announced subsequently.

Millions of migrant workers toiling in the Gulf countries are facing a crisis due to Covid-19 and the fall in oil prices.

The stock market, bond market and other financial markets are feeling the negative effect of coronavirus. ET wealth presents a quiz to help you assess your risk appetite in the current market scenario.

The trend of Indians returning from abroad to work here has picked up pace with the recovery in the country's economy.

MSME loan losses will rise sharply if economy takes time to revive: Amitabh Chaudhry

The rationale behind the lockdown was not that it would prevent infections but that it would allow us to build the health infrastructure to be able to cope with larger numbers infected, opined Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Though bleak, that number was smaller than analysts’ expectations of 22 million jobs lost.

Comic book buffs have created a mini-economy where collectors are willing to pony up big sums for rare editions.

BuzzFeed News: The J.Crew Bankruptcy Has Exposed A Hard Truth About The Influencer Economy. “The news this week that the parent company of beloved preppy brand J.Crew and its hip millennial sister, Madewell, had filed for bankruptcy led to an outpouring of sadness from fans across social media. It also led to a stark revelation … Continue reading BuzzFeed News: The J.Crew Bankruptcy Has Exposed A Hard Truth About The Influencer Economy

As heads of state, local leaders, business owners and individual citizens weighed the costs of re-opening the global economy, fears of new outbreaks grew. A central question emerged: How much infection and loss of life will emerge amid the push to restart business?

A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that almost 4.4 million visitors spent more than $415 million in Grand Canyon National Park and in gateway regions around the park in 2010. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2012-02-28_economics.htm

A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 4,564,841 visitors to Grand Canyon National Park in 2013 spent $476,194.8 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 6,238 jobs in the local area. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/tourism-to-grand-canyon-national-park-creates-476-million-dollars-in-economic-benefit-report-shows-visitor-spending-supports-6238-jobs-in-local-economy.htm

Cheaper beer and the return of the long lunch is on the menu as the hospitality sector tries to revive restaurants, pubs and cafes on the other side of the coronavirus pandemic.

The New Zealand Cabinet will meet on Monday to decide whether restrictions can be eased allowing domestic travel to restart and most businesses to open. There have been four new recorded infections in the past five days, and 90 percent of approximately 1500 confirmed or probable cases, have recovered from the virus. As the New Zealand and Australian economies reopen, a Trans-Tasman travel bubble could emerge as a serious possibility, if both nations continue to effectively flatten their coronavirus curves. Image: Associated Press

The Labor Department’s survey taken in April is expected to show record job losses for the U.S. WSJ explains the context behind the numbers. Photo: Justine Lane/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

SIRIUSXM BUSINESS RADIO's "WHARTON BUSINESS DAILY" will hold a Virtual Town Hall special on “Reopening the Economy” on FRIDAY (5/8) at 10a (ET).   The show wil … more

It has reported that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will make the announcement in an address to the nation on Sunday.

MARION — Marion’s 14-member COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force is beginning to work on recommendations of how to get people back to work, while keeping everyone...

In response to the coronavirus, Americans were told by their federal and state governments to shut down their businesses, stop going to church, work, school or out to eat, travel only when necessary and hunker down at home. Originally, Americans were led to believe this was for a two- or three-week period, in order to flatten the curve and not overwhelm our health care system.

At seven weeks and counting, with staggering economic loss that will leave families and thousands of small businesses and farmers with profound devastation, the question must be asked, are we trying to flatten the curve or flatten our country?

The initial models that pointed to staggering loss of life from the coronavirus have proved wildly inaccurate. As of May 2, the CDC placed the number of deaths in the U.S. from the virus at 66,746. While all loss of life is deeply regrettable, these numbers cannot be considered in a vacuum. For perspective, deaths from pneumonia in the U.S. during the same period were 64,382, with average yearly deaths from influenza in the same range.

The original goal of closing much of the U.S. economy and staying at home was to flatten the curve of new coronavirus cases so that our hospital systems would not be overwhelmed. Hospitals built by the Army Corps of Engineers to handle the increased volume have mostly been taken down. Except for a few spots in the U.S. the health care system was not overwhelmed. As the medical models of casualties from the coronavirus continue to be adjusted down, it is clear the curve has been flattened, so why do we continue to stay closed and worsen the economic devastation that tunnel vision has thus far kept many of our leaders from acknowledging?

Many health experts say 80 percent of Americans will get the coronavirus and experience only mild symptoms. The curve has been flattened. Our health care system is not overwhelmed. Why is our economy, for the most part, still closed?

A University of Washington study recently revised the projected number of deaths from the coronavirus in Iowa from 1,367 to a much lower estimate of 365. While all loss of life is horrific, we must also consider the devastation being done to our economy, our families and our way of life by actions taken to combat the coronavirus.

It must be noted that 578 Iowans died from the flu and pneumonia in 2017, a greater number than are likely to pass away from the coronavirus. We also know that many who die from the virus are elderly with underlying health conditions, increasing the likelihood that any serious illness could result in their death. Are draconian government restrictions in response to the coronavirus still needed and economically sustainable? The data shows that the answers to both questions is no. We are no longer flattening the curve; we are flattening our state and nation.

We have seen the medical data. What has been less visible in news conferences and in the overall reporting of the coronavirus and our response to it, are the economic and human costs of what we are doing:

• 30 million Americans are out of work and the number grows daily.

• Dairy farmers are pouring out milk they have no market for.

• Pork producers are euthanizing hogs they have no market for.

• According to a study by Iowa State University, the losses to Iowa Agriculture are at a staggering $6.7 billion and growing, with the largest losses in pork production and ethanol.

• In Iowa, the economic loss for corn is estimated to be $788 million, $213 million for soybean and $34 million for cattle.

• The Iowa Restaurant Association estimates that between 10 & 25% of Iowa’s restaurants will not reopen.

• Iowa’s public universities are predicting a $187 million loss.

• Iowa is spending $200 million or more per month on unemployment claims, with over 171,000 Iowans unemployed.

• 29 percent of the U.S. economy is frozen as a result of government action, with U.S. economic output down 29 percent.

• U.S. unemployment could soon hit 47 million.

• Losses to U.S. tourism are predicted to top $910 billion.

• Retirement plans for millions of Americans are being decimated, with recent reports projecting the average 401(k) loss at 19 percent.

• Drug and alcohol addiction and relapse are increasing.

• Testing for chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease are being delayed, which could lead to increasing health problems and life-threatening illnesses in the future.

• Economic damage to rural hospitals could lead to hospital closures and less access to health care in some areas.

• Warnings of a possible meat shortage in the U.S. have been issued by executives of Farmland and Tyson, with reports that the food supply chain is under stress. Several grocery store chains are now limiting meat purchases and some national restaurant chains are no longer offering certain meat products on their menus. Higher meat prices are almost certain in the months to come.

• Huge U.S. debt increases unlike anything seen since World War II, to the tune of over $3 trillion and counting, are adding to the already monstrous $22 trillion in U.S. debt. This does not bode well for our children or future economic stability.

The list of consequences goes on and on, and behind each of the statistics is a family struggling to survive, a father and mother fearful of how they will care for their children, a small-business owner seeing their dreams and hard work destroyed overnight by draconian government mandates, a restaurant owner deciding never to reopen, a dairy farmer throwing in the towel and a business owner postponing indefinitely plans for expanding.

Behind these numbers is an economy greatly impacted by the government response to the coronavirus, with implications for our economic well-being profound and long lasting. Expansion projects delayed, business closures, layoffs and contraction for many businesses will likely keep unemployment numbers high and depress economic expansion for an unknown amount of time.

Let us be clear, it grows worse every day we remain closed.

Steve Holt represents District 18 in the Iowa House.

MARION — Marion’s 14-member COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force is beginning to work on recommendations of how to get people back to work, while keeping everyone safe.

“It’s hard to know right now at the beginning the various outcomes that are going to come out of this,” Marion Mayor Nick AbouAssaly told task force members in a meeting held this week via Zoom.

“Community sectors will work independently and report to the steering committee with ideas, strategies or policy recommendations,” he said.

In turn, the task force will consider recommendations to the Marion City Council, and AbouAssaly said he will update the council on the task force meetings.

“Unfortunately, we have to accept that the virus is here to stay,” AbouAssaly said. “It’s part of our life for the time being. We have to be able to plan for getting back to doing things and leading our lives in a way that allows us to exist with the virus in our community.”

Elizabeth Cwik, a Marion resident who works for the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation, said there’s a “strong interest” among task force members to provide accurate information to the public about the virus.

“I see clear, consistent messaging from a variety of sectors from the schools, government, businesses and nonprofits. Then that message gets through,” Cwik said. “If that message is, ‘We care, and we want you to come out whole, and we want there to be a vibrant economy to be continued with every citizen’s effort,’ I think that’s a valuable contribution to the recovery.”

In joining the task force, Dr. Jaclyn Price said she hopes to dispel inaccurate information about the coronavirus and help businesses find ways to safely bring their employees back to work.

“I anticipate businesses will be operating at reduced capacities,” she said. “Maybe doing appointments rather than walk-in business, and cleaning more routinely.”

If businesses require employees and customers to wear masks, it will protect others from asymptomatic spread of the virus, she said.

“We will still see virus activity until we get a vaccine or herd immunity,” Price said. “This is going to be a problem for months to come. We’re trying to find ways to open slowly, but also understanding if we reopen everything and have to close it again, that could be more detrimental to people’s psychology or finances of businesses.”

The Rev. Mike Morgan of Marion United Methodist Church said “greater conversation” with government, business, education and health care leaders will help.

“Marion has become a town that is proactive,” Morgan said. “We really seek to have good things happen to our citizenry rather than let things happen and we react to them. ... As a person in the faith community, it’s important for us to be tending to people’s emotional, psychological, spiritual and, to some degree, physical needs.”

Comments: (319) 368-8664; grace.king@thegazette.com

Those serving on the Marion COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force, all Marion residents and volunteers, are:

• Nick AbouAssaly, Marion mayor

• Jill Ackerman, president, Marion Chamber of Commerce

• Shannon Bisgard, Linn-Mar schools superintendent

• Amber Bisinger, communications officer for the city

• Elizabeth Cwik, Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation

• Lee Eilers, executive committee member, Marion Economic Development Corp.

• Nick Glew, president, Marion Economic Development Corp.

• Amber Hoff, marriage and family therapist

• Steve Jensen, Marion City Council member

• Mike Morgan, pastor, Marion United Methodist Church

• Brent Oleson, Linn County supervisor

Lon Pluckhahn, Marion city manager

• Jaclyn Price, M.D., Mercy Clinic-Marion

• Brooke Prouty, program director, Marion Chamber of Commerce

By Rachel Cernansky Ensia When the Clean Air Act of 1970 became law, members of the business community in the United States responded with opposition. Such regulations are a drag on growth, some economists say, for individual businesses and for … Continue reading →

By The Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Within 25 years, the United States could produce enough biomass to support a bioeconomy, including renewable aquatic and terrestrial biomass resources that could be used for energy and to develop products … Continue reading →

A product for use in a turbocharger system. A turbine housing may define a center core that is circular in shape with a circumference. The turbine housing may define a first volute that extends for a length around only a part of the circumference of the center core, and a second volute that may be positioned radially outside the first volute and that may extend entirely around the circumference of the center core. The first volute and the second volute may define first and second exhaust gas passages through the turbine housing that may be asymmetric. All points of the second volute may be radially outside the first volute from the center core over the entire length of the first volute.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has extended her stay-at-home order through the end of May, while introducing a multi-step plan to get Michigan's economy going again. 12th District Representative Debbie Dingell expressed her optimism to WEMU for a safe start to the process while calling for more bi-partisan efforts to support those in need.

The economy has been severely impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the government and policymakers are looking for segments that are in the best position to help revive the economic activity the quickest.

On this edition of Your Call, we're speaking with Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz about how the US government has handled the COVID-19 crisis. He says the public safety net is not working and the US is on course for a second Great Depression.