Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Ready or not, borrowers are involuntarily seeing changes in the interest rates they are being charged. Why, you ask? Because there are serious, systemic risks associated with the most widely used interest rate basis in the world – the London Interbank Offered Rate (or LIBOR), including the LIBOR Rate for U.S. Dollar denominated loans and other financial products (USD LIBOR). The situation is so serious that regulatory authorities have said that “given consumer protection, litigation, and reputation risks, [they] believe entering into new contracts that use USD LIBOR as a reference rate after December 31, 2021, would create safety and soundness risks . . .”. In our view, all of this means that borrowers should prepare themselves to deal with forthcoming interest rate changes in as effective a manner as possible (and not wait until the inevitable occurs later this year).
<i>Five students at Shaker High School, New York are finalists in a statewide competition for their report that used World Bank data and machine learning models to assess the impacts of various factors on income inequality.</i>
Shaker High students use machine learning to analyze pandemic s impact on wealth inequality
Shaker High students use machine learning to analyze pandemic s impact on wealth inequality
Analysis wins team prize in annual Fed Challenge, an economics competition hosted by New York Federal Reserve Bank
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From left to right, Sahana Vinothkumar, 10th grade, Avi Bagchi, 11th grade, Andrew Krakat, social studies teacher and advisor to the club, Priya Musuku, 10th grade, Roshni Ramesh, 10th grade, and Harrison Fazzone, 11th grade, pose for a photo outside the school on Monday, April 19, 2021, in Latham, N.Y. The students, all members of the History Research and Competition Club, are finalists in the High School Fed Challenge for their research on wealth inequality. Their paper will be one of 12 published in the Journal of Future Economists. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)Paul Buckowski/Albany Times Union
Stimulus Check News: 7 Most Common Purchases Americans Are Making With Their Payments
04/19/21 AT 8:46 AM
With the third round of stimulus check going out to 159 million Americans as of April 14, consumers are already spending those $1,400 payments as they look for the U.S. to reach a sense of normalcy and the pandemic to come to an end.
Helping to drive consumer confidence is the more than 84.2 million people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accounting for over 25% of the U.S. population.
Retail sales increased by 9.8% in March as stimulus payments started to hit bank accounts, according to the Department of Commerce as reported by CNBC, signaling that consumers are ready to move past the pandemic and get back to life as usual with plans in place for the summer. That mindset was indicated by the items they purchased.