Press Releases

by Raymond J. Keating – Inflation took a significant bite out of personal income in August, according to data in the latest personal income report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. While personal income grew by 0.4 percent in August, the PCE (personal consumption expenditures) price index also rose by 0.4 percent. So, in […]

The Honorable Jason Smith Chairman Ways and Means Committee U.S. House of Representatives 1100 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C.  20515   The Honorable Richard Neal Ranking Member Ways and Means Committee U.S. House of Representatives 1100 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515   Dear Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Neal: On behalf of […]

by Raymond J. Keating – According to the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau, new orders for manufactured durable goods returned to positive growth territory in August, after a massive decline in July. Previously, durable goods orders were up in each month from March to June. The July change was revised down to -5.6 […]

NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Washington, D.C.  – Following an announcement by Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel that she plans to “begin the process of re-establishing” agency oversight “over broadband and restoring uniform, nationwide net neutrality rules,” Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) president & CEO Karen Kerrigan issued the following statement: “Intrusive […]

NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 26, 2023 Washington, D.C. – In response to today’s announcement that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing Amazon on antitrust grounds, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) issued a response to Chair Lina Khan’s fervent chase in fulfilling her longstanding and uninformed bias against the company, and […]

Jessica Looman Principal Deputy Administrator Wage and Hour Division Department of Labor Room S-3502 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20210 RE: Extension Request for Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, “Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees” (RIN 1235-AA39) Dear Principal Deputy Administrator Looman: The Partnership to Protect Workplace […]

by Raymond J. Keating –  The Federal Reserve decided to leave the federal funds rate unchanged at 5.25 to 5.5 percent. Given the misguided focus of the Fed on trying to fight inflation by undermining the economy, things, quite frankly, could have been worse. Reading the FOMC’s full statement, however, leaves this economist feeling that […]

In a TippsInsights blog post, SBE Council president & CEO Karen Kerrigan reports on the latest “Small Business Check Up Survey Q3” and points out that Amazon small business sellers are quite worried about potential Federal Trade Commission (FTC) action that would impose “structural remedies” on (and possibly break up) Amazon, according to the survey. […]

by Raymond J. Keating – Based on the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau, we saw something of a dichotomy in residential housing construction in August. Housing permits – which are estimates for future housing starts – grew by 6.9 percent in August vs. July (1,543,000 vs. 1,443,000), though this seasonally adjusted, annualized level […]

RE: Comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) on Draft Merger Guidelines – FTC-2023-0043 The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) is pleased to provide comments to the FTC and DOJ on the Draft Merger guidelines. SBE Council is an advocacy, research and education organization dedicated to protecting small […]