As a member of Wilmington Trust’s Investment Committee, Luke develops forecasts of the U.S. and international economies, as well as researches emerging issues to support and enhance the firm’s investment strategy. Luke is also responsible for communicating the economic outlook and investment strategy to clients and the public.
Prior to joining Wilmington Trust in 2015, Luke was 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 master’s degree and PhD 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 a former president of the Philadelphia Council for Business Economics, a chapter of the National Association for Business Economics.
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.
March 3, 2020—The Federal Reserve cut their short-term interest rate target by 50 basis points to a target range of 1.0–1.25%, the lowest since December 2017, in response to the economic risk coming from the spread of the new coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19. The next scheduled Fed meeting was not until two weeks from now, on March 17-18, so this was done as an emergency meeting, most likely via conference call. Emergency meetings like this are rare, but not unprecedented.
