Economy and Government

By Rohan Upadhyay Photo by Maxim Hopman on Unsplash Sam Bankman-Fried’s arrest, following FTX’s bankruptcy, has disrupted Washington’s relationship with the cryptocurrency industry. Bankman, who pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud, has lost allies in Washington as lobbyists have severed ties. This may affect lawmakers’ treatment of cryptocurrency.  This is significant because Bankman was a major lobbyist for cryptocurrencies, so the industry has lost a key figurehead. In the 2022 election cycle, the industry spent $73 million on donations to federal political candidates. Of this, FTX alone spent $72.1 million, of which Sam Bankman-Fried personally spent $39.9 million. Bankman…

By Marvi Ali (Image: creative common license) Over the past few months, the Federal Reserve has steadily been raising the federal funds interest rate in an effort to combat inflation. The Federal Reserve, also known as the Fed, is the central bank and monetary authority of the United States. The Fed is tasked with the major responsibilities of conducting national monetary policy, supervising and regulating the banking system, and ensuring financial stability. Recently, the Fed announced a 0.75% increase to their interest rate on November 2, making this the sixth interest rate hike of the year. And, the Fed hasn’t…

By Edward Ding (image: iStock) For the South Korean bond market, 2022 has gone from bad to worse. Markets in Korea have been grappling with the same macro problems that have afflicted much of the world: high inflation, global recession fears, and monetary tightening have all converged to crimp corporate profits, breed uncertainty, and generally create a volatile financial environment. The Bank of Korea continues to follow the Fed in its regime of rapid rate hikes, a policy that has steadily pushed up borrowing costs in the local debt market. The uncertain macro environment has dampened investor demand, and issuers…

By Sebastian Marrero Featured image: iStock  In this article, I will discuss a few of the many economic benefits that H-1B workers provide in strengthening the U.S. economy, additionally talking over past efforts that have been made to weaken or remove the program altogether. Finally, I will argue that increasing visa caps and changing the way the program chooses its recipients will form a safer, stronger, and more equitable visa program for skilled foreign workers. What is H-1B? Foreign workers form an integral part of the American economy. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, they comprise 17.4 percent of…

By: Claire Chen The U.S. Department of Labor’s August 2022 CPI report reveals that American consumers may finally see a respite in the inflationary processes that have contributed to a skyrocketing cost of living. The modest 0.1 percent increase in August’s CPI – still higher than expected, but consistent with July’s 0.0 percent increase and a dramatic reversal from June’s 1.3 percent increase – may explain the September 26 remarks expressed by Federal Reserve Chair of Boston Dr. Susan Collins, who states, “I think that it’s quite likely that inflation is near peaking and perhaps may have peaked already.” However,…