News Briefs

The Wall Street Journal reports that New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley will retire in 2018, about six months earlier than scheduled. The NY Fed President serves as the vice-chair of the Federal Open Market Committee, so any replacement nominated by President Trump will be poised to exert significant influence over the rate-setting activities of the Fed. WSJ

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Martin Feldstein argues that corporate tax reform is the most crucial part of the current tax reform effort. Feldstein contends that the U.S. capital stock could rise by $5 trillion within a decade, thereby boosting incomes across the board and offsetting any negative effects associated with an expanded federal deficit. WSJ

Eric Morath of The Wall Street Journal writes that retail jobs openings have climbed to nearly the highest level on record as the holiday season approaches. Morath reports that retailers have begun hiring out of training programs designed to retrain workers from other industries, a sign that a multi-decade low unemployment rate has translated into increasingly scarce workers. WSJ