Luke is Chief Economist for Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors (WTIA), a part of the M&T Bank family. He leads the economics team that sets the direction of the firm’s macroeconomic outlook. Luke is also a member of WTIA’s Investment Committee, and plays a critical role in the execution of our economic-led investment process.
Prior to joining Wilmington Trust in 2015, Luke was an officer and economic advisor with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Earlier in his career, Luke worked as a senior economist at IHS Global Insight and as an economist for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Luke holds a Ph.D. and a master’s degree in economics from Temple University, and a bachelor’s degree in economics and history from James Madison University. He is a former adjunct faculty member at Temple University and formerly served on the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Economic Association. In addition, Luke is former president of the Philadelphia Council for Business Economics, a chapter of the National Association for Business Economics.
April 15, 2020—The COVID-19 epidemic and ensuing mitigation measures are unprecedented and will produce jarring impacts on the U.S. and world economies. The stay-at-home measures employed in the U.S. and elsewhere include the forced closure of vast swaths of the economy on both the goods and services sides. The first and most dramatic signs of the damage have been in new claims for unemployment insurance, which show 16.
March 20, 2020—The COVID-19 pandemic is going to hit the U.S. and world economies hard, that much is clear. But the clarity stops there. As we witness the rapid spread of the disease and the ensuing mitigation efforts, we face immense uncertainty about the ultimate economic impact, and, hence, the impact on financial markets.
March 15, 2020 — The Federal Reserve surprised markets again and took emergency measures on Sunday night, March 15, including cutting rates to zero and a plan to purchase $700 billion worth of Treasuries and mortgages in the coming months. Late in the day the Fed announced the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) conducted an emergency meeting in lieu of their scheduled meeting later in the week.
