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…
4/25/25: “Uncertainty, Confusion, and Chaos”: Trump Tariffs Impact USDA and Local Farmers
CRER director Howard Wall appeared in a story on Channel 3 News about the effect of tariffs on local farmers: “If you start restricting or putting huge tariffs on imports from these countries, these are not rich countries, they’re not going to write checks to us for having trade deficits, and we’re not going to…
4/22/25: Tennessee, Georgia Borrowers Brace for Impact as Student Loan Collections Restart in May
The Trump administration has announced that it will be ending the pause on student debt repayment for about 5 million borrowers who were in default prior to the pandemic. CRER director Howard Wall provided his thoughts in a story on News Channel 9. “They were also promised that the student loans would be canceled. So…