Mark Zandi

1 month ago | inquirer.com | Mark Zandi

In my 35 years as a professional economist, I have rarely been as unsure about the economic outlook as I am now. There was the chaos of the Global Financial Crisis a generation ago, which required a government bailout to avert the collapse of the financial system and economy. There was also the COVID pandemic, when the economy shut down as the world came to grips with the virus.

2 months ago | inquirer.com | Mark Zandi

Short-term pain, but long-term gain. That is how President Donald Trump’s administration has been marketing its economic policies. Higher tariffs and a global trade war may hurt now, the pitch goes, but this will mean a stronger economy in the future. Don’t buy it. We are already feeling the pain of the mounting global trade war. It took a dark turn earlier this month when the president unveiled so-called reciprocal tariffs on a poster board full of trading partners.

2 months ago | econofact.org | Mark Zandi

President Trump inherited an economy that was, at least in the aggregate, performing exceptionally well. Since taking office, however, the stock market has fallen, and there are heightened expectations of a slowdown due to the policies, and uncertainty from the shifts in policies, of the new Administration. Are these concerns well-founded? Or will tariffs, cuts to government jobs, and deregulation help usher in a stronger economy? Mark Zandi considers these issues on EconoFact Chats.

Mar 27, 2025 | inquirer.com | Mark Zandi

It is hard to fathom, but we are back on recession watch. The U.S. economy was performing exceptionally well at the start of the year — arguably the strongest economy in the world — but big haphazard swings in economic policy have put us here. Just a couple of months into the new President Donald Trump administration, the economy is suddenly struggling.

Feb 21, 2025 | inquirer.com | Mark Zandi

The drama playing out in Washington, D.C., since President Donald Trump’s inauguration is hard to follow. Changes to tariff and immigration policy, government worker firings, and cuts to federal funding are coming fast and furious, as Trump looks to reshape government agencies from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Despite the Sturm und Drang over policy and developing economic fallout, investors are nonplussed.