In a new white paper, CRER director Howard Wall looks at trends in the official poverty rate in the Chattanooga metro area. The paper looks at the extent to which the recent jobs boom in the Chattanooga metro area has translated into a corresponding reduction in poverty. Following the national trend, Chattanooga’s official poverty rate…
5/19/25: Tennessee Graduates Face Workforce with Prospects of Wage Increase, ADP Data Reveals
CRER director and chief economist Howard Wall was featured in a story on News Channel 9 about wage increases in Tennessee. He explained that “For people who see their wages rising, as long as it’s above, say, two and a half, 2.3% then they’ll have seen an increase in their real wages.” “Government workers don’t…
5/14/25: Special CRER Forecast for the Chattanooga Economy
In light of the ever-changing national situation and outlook, the CRER has released a special forecast outside of its regular schedule of quarterly forecasts. The CRER’s updated forecast provides three scenarios based on the Blue Chip survey, and one based on the occurrence of a moderate recession along the lines of the 1990 and 2001…
5/6/25:Talking Tariffs – And Their Impact – In The Chattanooga Area
CRER director Howard Wall and CRER research fellow Bento Lobo appeared on WUTC’s Scenic Roots to talk about tariffs and their effects on Chattanoogans. They noted how tariffs of any sort are bad for the economy, but that the uncertainty resulting from the haphazard rollout of the tariffs is the bigger problem currently. Listen to…
4/30/25: FreightWaves CEO Weary of Trump’s Tariffs
An article in the Chattanooga Times Free Press has an interview with the CEO of one of the large logistics companies: “I did not vote for a neutron bomb to wipe out supply chains and small businesses 100 days in.” The piece also includes CRER director Howard Wall: (T)he nation hasn’t yet felt the full…