The uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic was a common thread that ran through the presenters' discussions at the 27th Annual Automotive Symposium held virtually on January 13, 2021. Manufacturers, suppliers, product planners, industry forecasters, and policymakers agreed that the uncertainty about the virus and the effective rollout of vaccines are the biggest issues currently facing the... Read More

The Chicago Fed’s Detroit Economic Activity Index (DEAI) was +0.06 in September 2020, down from +0.51 in the previous month. For the entire third quarter of 2020, the DEAI value was +7.64, up from –5.21 in the previous quarter.1 The monthly index values for January through September of this year are displayed in figure 1. Also featured are visual representations of the contributions from... Read More

The Chicago Fed’s Detroit Economic Activity Index (DEAI) was +6.30 in June 2020, up from +0.42 in the previous month. For the entire second quarter, the DEAI value was –8.67.1 The index values for April, May, and June of this year are displayed in figure 1. Also featured are visual representations of the contributions from the index’s four major categories: income, labor, real estate, and tra... Read More

Over the past decade or so, higher education in the U.S. has faced three major disruptive factors—declining public funding, declining enrollments, and the rise of online instruction. The Covid-19 pandemic has only magnified these challenges, creating a perfect storm situation for many universities and colleges across the nation. Here, I discuss each of these three key factors chiefly in the c... Read More

The Chicago Fed’s Detroit Economic Activity Index (DEAI) was –1.98 in March 2020. For the entire first quarter of 2020, the DEAI value was +0.07.1 The DEAI’s value in March reflects the severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the city’s economic activity. While Detroit’s population makes up just 6.7% of Michigan’s total population, Detroit accounts for 19.2% of all confirmed Covid-19 cases ... Read More

This blog looks at the current state of leading economic indicators for the state of Michigan to gain insight on the possible trajectory of the Michigan economy.1 There is a long tradition within economic analysis of analyzing leading economic indicators—current economy measures that are thought to indicate the direction of the business cycle six to nine months ahead of time. Perhap... Read More

The Chicago Fed’s Detroit Economic Activity Index (DEAI) was +0.32 in December—a little below its quarterly value of +0.42 for the fourth quarter of 2019. In 2019, each quarterly value of the DEAI was above zero, implying that the city’s quarterly growth rate managed to stay above its long-run trend throughout the year. Moreover, the DEAI’s annual value was +0.77 for 2019—higher than its ann... Read More

The Chicago Fed’s Detroit Economic Activity Index (DEAI) was +0.06 in September, down from +0.28 in August. The index averaged +0.51 over the past year. An index value greater than zero points to the city of Detroit’s economic activity growing faster than trend, while an index value less than zero points to the city’s economic activity growing slower than trend. The complete history of the i... Read More

In this blog, I examine trends in homeownership and renting in Michigan since the end of the Great Recession. Specifically, I look at the differences in these trends for different household income groups. Table 1. Homeownership rate: U.S., Michigan, 2009–18 2009 2010 ... Read More

The Chicago Fed’s Detroit Economic Activity Index (DEAI) was +1.92 in June, up from –0.94 in May. The index averaged +0.46 over the past year. An index value greater than zero points to the city of Detroit’s economic activity growing faster than trend, while an index value less than zero points to the city’s economic activity growing slower than trend. The complete history of the index throu... Read More