economy
Small Business Loans On Aisle Three: Sam’s Club To Test Lending Program
Submitted by Janet_Perez on Tue, 07/06/2010 - 3:54pm
With this in mind, Sam’s Club, a division of Walmart, announced today that it is testing an online program to provide small businesses with loans. The retailer is partnering with Superior Financial Group, a top Small Business Administration (SBA) lender, in order to make available loans of between $5,000 and $25,000 to qualifying small businesses. |
As the economy slowly — very slowly — recovers, the credit markets remain tight, and access to credit could make all the difference between a small business surviving or going under.Economic Recovery: The State’s Economy Is Showing Signs Of Improvement, But The Threat Of Aftershocks Remains
Submitted by Janet_Perez on Thu, 04/22/2010 - 2:56pm
This afternoon, top economic experts from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University gave their mid-year economic forecast at the annual Economic Luncheon sponsored by the Economic Club of Phoenix. |
It’s been established that the Great Recession of this century rivaled in scope and severity the Great Depression of the last century. With a consensus that we have generally bottomed out, all eyes are now on the economic recovery. Will it be robust? Modest? Weak? And as with any great cataclysm, will there be more aftershocks?Glimmer of Hope: 2010 Forecast
Submitted by Allie_Bell on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 3:33pm
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In his Linneman Letter, Dr. Linneman says, "we hit bottom around April 2009. However, let's be clear: government panic and subsequent market incursions both lengthened and deepened the cyclical recession that was underway in mid-2008, creating our third post-WWII 'super recession.'"
But it's not all bad news out there, Dr. Linneman continues later on in his letter to say, "The good news is that real GDP bottomed in May, while monthly job losses have slowed to near zero. Once job declines end, there will have been a net loss of about 7.24 million jobs over the duration of the current recession. This is equivalent to about 4 years of normal job growth, which is about 1.8 million jobs per year." |
"The recession is over!" Or at least that's what Dr. Peter Linneman says, who is the chief economist for Stimulated Construction
Submitted by Allie_Bell on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 9:17pm
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The Associated General Contractors of America recently put out a 2010 construction outlook forecast that stated nearly 9 in 10 contractors say there will be no recovery in 2010. Further outlook doom and gloom within the forecast included: |
Anyone who says things don't look bleak out there hasn't looked outside their window in the past few days. But as they say — "when it rains it pours" — and Arizona has not been the exception, it's been the definition.Bright Spot
Green shoots, opportunity funds, light at the end of the tunnel — these are phrases that we’ve all heard recently. And they all point to one bright spot — things are starting to turn around in the economy. |
A Glimpse of Recovery
Submitted by Allie_Bell on Mon, 10/26/2009 - 9:15pm
It’s all about perception, and the words you choose to describe your point-of-view. The best phrase I’ve heard so far this year was captured in a book title: “Bulls Don’t Blush, Bears Don’t Die,” by Scottsdale-resident Dr. Barry Asmus. The book itself explores the limitless opportunities emerging from a borderless and knowledge-driven society, as well as international economic and political trends that are shaping business. Nowadays it’s all about the global economy.
The senior economist for the National Center for Policy Analysis has been named by USA Today as one of the five most requested speakers in the United States – and after hearing him speak at NAIOP’s second annual Casino Night 2009, it’s easy to see how this man got that reputation.
Fasten Your Seatbelts! It’s Going to be a Bumpy Economic Recovery
Submitted by Janet_Perez on Tue, 08/18/2009 - 7:11am
Do you want more proof the worst is over? Listen to all the government economic advisers now telling us with shaky voices how close we came to a global financial meltdown and narrowly escaped tumbling into an economic abyss. It’s like listening to all those old Cold War warriors telling us decades later how close we really came to nuclear annihilation during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Whew, that would have been really bad. |
I think it’s safe to say that what we see up ahead is light at the end of the tunnel and not more oncoming headlights. It does appear that the beginning of the end of this recession has started. An aggregate of various economic reports are indicating that our economy is slowly coming back to life.Things Are Looking Flat: No Really Bad News Means A Good Day On Wall Street
Submitted by Janet_Perez on Thu, 08/13/2009 - 2:54pm
Bad: The U.S. Commerce Department reports that businesses continued to reduce their inventories for a tenth straight month in July. Good: Total business sales in July rose for the first time in almost a year. Bad: The Department of Labor reports that first time unemployment claims rose last week by 4,000 and the four-week moving average rose by 8,500. Good: The number of people still on unemployment fell by 141,000. Bad: The Commerce Department reports that retail sales fell 0.1 percent in July. Economists had expected a gain of 0.7 percent. |
Wall Street had hard time digesting a barrage of conflicting economic data that was released today.Major Grant Gives ASU Engineering Students An Edge
Submitted by Janet_Perez on Tue, 08/11/2009 - 1:05pm
 There’s never been a more difficult time in decades to be entering the job market; just ask a recent college graduate. So any little bit of an edge helps. Engineering students at Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering will be getting just such an edge thanks to a $245 million in-kind software grant from Siemens PLM Software. According to ASU officials, it is the largest in-kind grant in the university’s history. The grant was made through the Siemens PLM Software Global Opportunities in Product Lifecycle Management program, and includes engineering software, student/instructor training and specialized software certification programs. |
Small Business, Big Value
Submitted by Janet_Perez on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 7:09am
Just because it’s a cliché doesn’t make it any less true. I use that to preface this next statement: Small businesses form the economic backbone of Arizona. |
