Commerce

BY MATT WEIDINGER Various reviewers (including me) have noted the rapid growth of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. That’s the temporary federally funded unemployment benefit program created in the March 2020 CARES Act that is designed to assist self-employed individuals,

BY E.J. McMAHON For a second consecutive year, New York’s population loss was mainly concentrated downstate, according to the latest Census Bureau estimates. During the 12-month period ending last July 1, the 50 counties of upstate New York lost 20,846

Billionaire Bob Rich, the owner of the privately held Rich Products Corporation is being urged to launch a new Buffalo-based marketing unit focused on ‘brand-building’ across the multi-national firm’s product channels. Many in the local business community believe that Rich

In March, developer Gerald Bucheit killed a South Harbor development project called Queen City Landing, which has been long delayed by preservationists’ lawsuits claiming that the 23-story residential tower would interfere with ‘migratory bird patterns’. Nonsense litigation aside, urban design advocates

BY MATT WEIDINGER State unemployment insurance (UI) programs typically offer laid-off workers up to 26 weeks of benefits that replace, on average, nearly half their pre­vious wages. Except for the brief recession in 1980, in every recession since 1957, Congress

BY MARK JAMISON Universities are scrambling to figure out what to do if the COVID-19 pandemic keeps many students off campuses this fall. But they might do better to watch out for people like Jeff Bezos. Bezos’s statement, “Your margin

In recent weeks Governor Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly said that the economy is unlikely to “just bounce back” from the COVID-19 pandemic shut down.  He has been arguing that the government will need to “think big” in efforts to rebuild

Billions of dollars in hidden state taxes are driving up the cost of health insurance for New York consumers and employers, according to a report published today by the Empire Center. The taxes, collected under the state’s Health Care Reform Act, add

Pegula Sports & Entertainment may be in such a serendipitous cash crunch that billionaire Terry Pegula may be willing to sell his two National Lacrosse League franchises — the Buffalo Bandits and the Rochester Knighthawks — to the Seneca Nation

Rumor has it that the Seneca Gaming Corporation is developing a ‘top-secret’ gaming application for home play on phones and computers during the COVID-19 outbreak, which prompted the Seneca Nation Tribal Council to shut down its casino venues — halting

BY ANNA SCHERBINA We investigate the optimal duration of the COVID-19 suppression policy. We find that absent extensive suppression measures, the economic cost of the virus will total over $9 trillion, which represents 43% of annual GDP. The optimal duration

TD Garden, often called The Garden, is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts named after a subsidiary of Canada’s Toronto-Dominion Bank. It opened in 1995 as a replacement for the original Boston Garden and has been known as FleetCenter, among

BY MATT WEIDINGER Last October, the House Ways and Means Committee approved, along party lines, legislation to extend and expand the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) program.  HPOG is one of more than 40 federal education and training programs and provides low-income individuals training

The federal government over-regulates nearly everything, and the northern border with our largest trading partner is no exception.  But making it easier to traverse this international boundary line will have enormous economic impacts for both nations, but for the economically

Lorraine Capital, LLC (“Lorraine”), a Buffalo NY private equity firm, in partnership with Landon Capital Partners, LLC (“Landon”), a Boston MA family office and Ironwood Capital, LLC (“Ironwood”) an Avon CT based subordinated debt fund, has exited their investment in

Global Market Insights, Inc. has recently added a new report on the surgical robots market which estimates the global market valuation for surgical robots will cross US$ 24 billion by 2025. Rising patient preference towards minimally invasive surgeries in developed as well

As the digital currency market matures from wild speculation to trust and integrity, a new crypto hedge fund has emerged — the first to be compliant in Asia. Circle Fund is working to grow the crypto-asset ecosystem by supporting innovative

BY JAMES PETHOKOUKIS It’s easy to sound like a knee-jerk, anti-business agitator when calling for the breakup of Big Tech. These are America’s biggest and most innovative companies. China is trying to build many, Europe any. Consumers love them. What’s