scholarly journals Financial Fragility during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 292-296
Author(s):  
Robert L. Clark ◽  
Annamaria Lusardi ◽  
Olivia S. Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Financial Fragility ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
Financial Difficulties ◽  
The Us ◽  
Additional Protection ◽  
Emergency Interventions

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the US economy was closed to limit the virus's spread, and several emergency interventions were implemented. Our analysis of older (45-75) respondents fielded in April-May of 2020 indicates that about 1 in 5 respondents was financially fragile and would have difficulty facing a midsize emergency expense. Some subgroups were at particular risk of facing financial difficulties, especially younger respondents, those with larger families, Hispanics, and those with low income. Moreover, the more financially literate were better able to handle such shocks, indicating that knowledge can provide some additional protection during a pandemic.

scholarly journals Varieties of capitalism, increasing income inequality and the sustainability of long-run growth

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 559-582
Author(s):  
Mark Setterfield ◽  
Yun K Kim
Keyword(s):  
Varieties Of Capitalism ◽  
Financial Fragility ◽  
Debt Accumulation ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Us ◽  
Debt Dynamics ◽  
Social Wage ◽  
Household Borrowing

Abstract We model US household debt accumulation during the neoliberal boom (1990–2007) as a response to emulation effects and the decline of the social wage, which has ‘privatised’ an increasing share of the costs of providing for services such as health and education. The debt dynamics of the US economy are then studied under alternative assumptions about the configuration of distributional variables, which is shown to differ across varieties of capitalism that have ‘neoliberalised’ to different degrees. A key result is that distributional change alone will not make contemporary US capitalism financially sustainable due, in part, to the paradoxical nature of inequality as a spur to household borrowing, and hence a source of both demand-formation and financial fragility. Achieving sustainability requires, instead, more wide-ranging reform.

US dock strike unlikely to be repeated

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Economic Impact ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Low Income ◽  
The United States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Work Stoppage ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
Complete Work ◽  
The Us

Significance The slowdown led to extreme backlogs at the ports, which are responsible for about 45.0% of containerised cargo in the United States and goods representing 12.5% of GDP. Importers and exporters are concerned that the tactic of an economically-damaging slowdown or complete work stoppage may be repeated at the end of the contract, or at ports on the East or Gulf Coasts. Impacts The economic impact of the slowdown is calculated to have cost GDP one percentage point in the fourth quarter of 2014. State actions against unions will provide case studies for examining their impact on wage levels. The segmentation of the US economy has made low-income workers suited for greater unionisation. However, they are also most vulnerable to employer action and less able to withstand strikes.

Firms’ leverage ratio and the Financial Instability Hypothesis: an empirical investigation for the US economy (1970–2014)

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 1499-1523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ítalo Pedrosa
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Financial Fragility ◽  
Financial Instability ◽  
Positive Relation ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Leverage Ratio ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
General Outcome ◽  
The Us

Abstract ‘There are many ‘Minskian’ interpretations of how financial fragility builds up reflecting the unsolved tensions regarding the transition from micro to macro results in Minsky’s Financial Instability Hypothesis (FIH).’ Using firm-level and macroeconomic data to comply with the variety of FIH’s interpretations, we empirically assess the relations between leverage and financial fragility in the US economy (1970–2014). To evaluate firms’ financial fragility, we deploy Minsky’s scale—from the financially sounder to the more fragile firms: hedge, speculative and Ponzi. The main findings are the following: (i) the evolution of the aggregate leverage ratio does not account for the systemic financial fragility, measured by the frequency of speculative and Ponzi firms, and (ii) within the biggest firms, the leverage has increased along with the incidence of hedge financing, and for the smallest firms group the opposite has happened. We conclude that a positive relation between leverage and financial fragility cannot be deemed to be a general outcome.

Military Subsidization of Human Capital and Gender Stratification in the US Economy

2021 ◽  
pp. 048661342098262
Author(s):  
Tyler Saxon
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
The United States ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
Access To Higher Education ◽  
Gender Stratification ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Capital Development ◽  
The Military

In the United States, the military is the primary channel through which many are able to obtain supports traditionally provided by the welfare state, such as access to higher education, job training, employment, health care, and so on. However, due to the nature of the military as a highly gendered institution, these social welfare functions are not as accessible for women as they are for men. This amounts to a highly gender-biased state spending pattern that subsidizes substantially more human capital development for men than for women, effectively reinforcing women’s subordinate status in the US economy. JEL classification: B54, B52, Z13

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