Bitcoin is lacking key ingredients that would make it a useful currency. As a result, the crypto currency is essentially more of a substitute for gold than the dollar, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said Monday. “Crypto assets are highly volatile — see Bitcoin — and therefore not really useful as a store of value. They’re not backed by anything. They’re more of an asset for speculation,” Powell said, during a webinar sponsored by the Bank of International Settlements.“It is essentially a substitute for gold rather than the dollar,” he added. Stable coins are “an improvement” over crypto assets,...…Bitcoin is lacking key ingredients that would make it a useful currency. As a result, the crypto currency is essentially more of a substitute for gold than the dollar, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said Monday. “Crypto assets are highly volatile — see Bitcoin — and therefore not really useful as a store of value. They’re not backed by anything. They’re more of an asset for speculation,” Powell said, during a webinar sponsored by the Bank of International Settlements.“It is essentially a substitute for gold rather than the dollar,” he added. Stable coins are “an improvement” over crypto assets,...WW…

A previous version of this report provided an inaccurate figure for the decline in small-business jobs. The story below has been corrected. The numbers: Private-sector employment fell in December as consumer and business activity in some states was affected by lockdowns to combat the coronavirus pandemic which has worsened across much of the country.Employers in the private sector shed 123,000 jobs in December — the first decline since April, Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had expected a December gain of 60,000 private sector jobs. What happened: Job losses were primarily...…A previous version of this report provided an inaccurate figure for the decline in small-business jobs. The story below has been corrected. The numbers: Private-sector employment fell in December as consumer and business activity in some states was affected by lockdowns to combat the coronavirus pandemic which has worsened across much of the country.Employers in the private sector shed 123,000 jobs in December — the first decline since April, Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had expected a December gain of 60,000 private sector jobs. What happened: Job losses were primarily...WW…

Stimulus checks, which enjoyed widespread public support and were included in the recent economic relief package signed into law by President Donald Trump, are not the best use of taxpayer dollars, a former top Obama administration economist said Sunday. The first round of stimulus checks sent last year “didn’t do all that much,” were not necessarily fair and didn’t help the sectors that were hurting the most, said Christina Romer, a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley. She served as chair of then-President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers and helped...…Stimulus checks, which enjoyed widespread public support and were included in the recent economic relief package signed into law by President Donald Trump, are not the best use of taxpayer dollars, a former top Obama administration economist said Sunday. The first round of stimulus checks sent last year “didn’t do all that much,” were not necessarily fair and didn’t help the sectors that were hurting the most, said Christina Romer, a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley. She served as chair of then-President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers and helped...WW…

The road ahead for the U.S. economy looks rockier now than it did in June, according to a survey of economists released Monday. While growth is expected to continue, a panel of 52 economists has lowered its forecast for the rate of growth for the last three months of this year and for 2021, the National Association for Business Economists said.Economists cut their forecast for October-December growth to a 4.9% annual rate from their prior estimate in June of a 6.8% rate. For all of this year, the economy will contract by a 4.3% annual rate. The median forecast for real GDP growth for 2021...…The road ahead for the U.S. economy looks rockier now than it did in June, according to a survey of economists released Monday. While growth is expected to continue, a panel of 52 economists has lowered its forecast for the rate of growth for the last three months of this year and for 2021, the National Association for Business Economists said.Economists cut their forecast for October-December growth to a 4.9% annual rate from their prior estimate in June of a 6.8% rate. For all of this year, the economy will contract by a 4.3% annual rate. The median forecast for real GDP growth for 2021...WW…

If Congress is worried about the health of some American businesses, it’s up to lawmakers to provide support directly, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said ahead of a hearing later Tuesday. The Fed can only make loans, which isn’t much of a life preserver for some companies, Powell said,For some companies, “a loan that could be difficult to repay might not be the answer. In these cases, direct fiscal support may be needed,” Powell said. Prospects that Congress will pass another rescue package have faded in recent weeks, and became even more remote after the death of Supreme Court...…If Congress is worried about the health of some American businesses, it’s up to lawmakers to provide support directly, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said ahead of a hearing later Tuesday. The Fed can only make loans, which isn’t much of a life preserver for some companies, Powell said,For some companies, “a loan that could be difficult to repay might not be the answer. In these cases, direct fiscal support may be needed,” Powell said. Prospects that Congress will pass another rescue package have faded in recent weeks, and became even more remote after the death of Supreme Court...WW…

The Federal Reserve’s staff told central bank officials in late July that they were lowering their estimate for economic growth over the second half of the year, according to the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting released Wednesday. Fed staff members always present their own forecast at the central bank’s eight interest-rate committee meetings each year.At the latest meeting on July 28-29, the staff said they expected the rate of recovery in gross domestic product and the pace of declines in the unemployment rate to be “somewhat less robust than in the previous...…The Federal Reserve’s staff told central bank officials in late July that they were lowering their estimate for economic growth over the second half of the year, according to the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting released Wednesday. Fed staff members always present their own forecast at the central bank’s eight interest-rate committee meetings each year.At the latest meeting on July 28-29, the staff said they expected the rate of recovery in gross domestic product and the pace of declines in the unemployment rate to be “somewhat less robust than in the previous...WW…

House Democrats on Monday added $25 billion in emergency funding for the U.S. Postal Service to the stand-alone measure they are expected to consider at the end of the week. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called the House back into session over the post-office issue. Democrats and much of the public are concerned that President Donald Trump and his new, handpicked postmaster general are attempting to hollow out the service and make it unable to process mail-in ballots this November.At first, House Democrats said they would only vote to block recent policy changes at the Postal Service favored by...…House Democrats on Monday added $25 billion in emergency funding for the U.S. Postal Service to the stand-alone measure they are expected to consider at the end of the week. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called the House back into session over the post-office issue. Democrats and much of the public are concerned that President Donald Trump and his new, handpicked postmaster general are attempting to hollow out the service and make it unable to process mail-in ballots this November.At first, House Democrats said they would only vote to block recent policy changes at the Postal Service favored by...WW…

President Donald Trump’s executive order and memorandums ostensibly providing relief amid the intractable coronavirus pandemic don’t seem feasible or legal, experts said Saturday. One Republican lawmaker, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, called Trump’s unilateral moves “unconstitutional slop.”“President Obama did not have the power to unilaterally rewrite immigration law with DACA and President Trump does not have the power to unilaterally rewrite the payroll tax law,” Sasse said in a statement. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump’s rival in the 2016 presidential election, in an...…President Donald Trump’s executive order and memorandums ostensibly providing relief amid the intractable coronavirus pandemic don’t seem feasible or legal, experts said Saturday. One Republican lawmaker, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, called Trump’s unilateral moves “unconstitutional slop.”“President Obama did not have the power to unilaterally rewrite immigration law with DACA and President Trump does not have the power to unilaterally rewrite the payroll tax law,” Sasse said in a statement. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump’s rival in the 2016 presidential election, in an...WW…

The numbers: The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits rose for the second straight week, a sign economic growth could be stalling in late July. Claims had been on a steady decline after peaking in late March. Initial jobless claims rose by 12,000 to 1.434 million in the week ended July 25, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had been looking for 1.51 million new claims. A new federal relief program for so-called “gig” workers like Uber drivers, totaled 829,607 last week.The number of people already collecting economic benefits, known as...…The numbers: The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits rose for the second straight week, a sign economic growth could be stalling in late July. Claims had been on a steady decline after peaking in late March. Initial jobless claims rose by 12,000 to 1.434 million in the week ended July 25, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had been looking for 1.51 million new claims. A new federal relief program for so-called “gig” workers like Uber drivers, totaled 829,607 last week.The number of people already collecting economic benefits, known as...WW…

New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize–winning economist Paul Krugman declared the war on inflation over Thursday, but other economists are saying, “Not so fast.” In a post on X, the social-media platform better known as Twitter, Krugman said, “We won, at very little cost.” The post seemed designed to spark reactions, and it did. Some people, like Tim Murtaugh, who served as communications director for Donald Trump’s unsuccessful 2020 campaign, were quick to note that Krugman had used a measure of consumer inflation that excludes the prices of food, energy, shelter and used cars. When...…New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize–winning economist Paul Krugman declared the war on inflation over Thursday, but other economists are saying, “Not so fast.” In a post on X, the social-media platform better known as Twitter, Krugman said, “We won, at very little cost.” The post seemed designed to spark reactions, and it did. Some people, like Tim Murtaugh, who served as communications director for Donald Trump’s unsuccessful 2020 campaign, were quick to note that Krugman had used a measure of consumer inflation that excludes the prices of food, energy, shelter and used cars. When...WW…