Consumers are feeling the effects of the highest inflation rates in decades, particularly on essentials like groceries and gas, while many big companies are reporting record profits. That dichotomy is angering a lot of Americans and public officials. But corporate greed isn’t to blame for inflation, says Maryland Smith finance professor Michael Faulkender.

The consumer price index’s 7.9 percent increase over the past year “is excessive inflation” and “primarily the result of unnecessary fiscal stimulus ($1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act)” that has been “bolstered by excessively accommodative monetary policy by the Federal Reserve,” said Maryland Smith’s Michael Faulkender in opening remarks to lawmakers in an April 5, 2022, Senate Budget Committee hearing titled “Corporate Profits are Soaring as Prices Rise: Are Corporate Greed and Profiteer

Dean’s Professor of Finance Michael Faulkender at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business will testify tomorrow (11 a.m. Tuesday, April 5, 2022) during a Senate Budget Committee hearing titled “Corporate Profits are Soaring as Prices Rise: Are Corporate Greed and Profiteering Fueling Inflation?”

With Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine intensifying, the United States and several key allies moved to cut Russia off from much of the global financial system – barring select Russian banks from participating the SWIFT global finance network.

Traditional data sources couldn’t capture the whole economic picture during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading some to look to less-analyzed data sources – OpenTable reservations, TSA screenings, weekly credit-card transactions. Maryland Smith’s Michael Faulkender, speaking recently to the Economist, discussed those new data sources and their new prevalence.

The Biden administration's proposed $2 trillion infrastructure bill is expected to be funded in part by an increased corporate tax rate. But changes of that magnitude always carry consequences, says Maryland Smith's Michael Faulkender, and the impact of these policies could be felt years down the road.

The Center for Global Business (CGB) at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business and the U.S. Department of Commerce welcomed the Chief Fintech Officer of Singapore’s Monetary Authority, Sopnendu Mohanty on April 23, 2018 to discuss trending issues in fintech and blockchain technologies while focusing on the U.S. approach to fintech opportunities in the Indo-Pacific region.

Michael Faulkender, professor of finance and associate dean of masters programs at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, was selected by President Trump on March 19, 2018, to be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy.  In this role, Faulkender will advise the Secretary of the Treasury and the administration on economic developments in the U.S. and world economies and assisting in the determination of appropriate economic policies.