Rhea is a Senior Economist at Wilmington Trust, responsible for monitoring and analyzing economic developments in domestic and international economies.
Prior to joining Wilmington Trust, Rhea served as Vice President in Foreign Exchange Sales at Lehman Brothers, where she provided primary sales coverage to institutional clients. Earlier in her career, she focused on foreign exchange research, where she helped to build models and write publications to explain currency market movements and trade ideas.
Rhea holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and International Studies with Distinction from Yale University.
September 23, 2021Debt ceiling negotiations in Congress have returned to the spotlight, as they do every few years. Current estimates suggest the U.S. Treasury will be unable to meet its payment obligations starting between mid-October to early November.Markets are watching closely because failure on the part of Congress to raise or suspend the debt ceiling ahead of that deadline could raise the risk of the U.S. Treasury defaulting on its debt, which would be an unprecedented event.
August 9, 2021—Last week’s jobs report was strong for the second month in a row and immediately prompted questions about how it may affect the Federal Reserve’s dovish posture. With 1.9 million combined jobs added in June and July, gross domestic product (GDP) surpassing the pre-pandemic peak in 2Q 2021, and inflation at the highest in decades, it’s natural to think the Fed would normalize policy soon.
Wilmington Trust Senior Economist Rhea Thomas and M&T Commercial Equipment Finance Group Manager of Direct Originations Scott Weissmann have analyzed the 2020 trajectory of capital expenditures and what to expect for the rest of 2021.Last fall, M&T Bank’s John Wolfe, Commercial Equipment Finance, wrote about the importance of preserving capital during the economic uncertainties caused by the pandemic.
May 28, 2021The path for inflation is the most hotly debated issue in markets right now, both because of the direct impact it will have on markets and also whether it will force the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates earlier than expected.
May 26, 2021Bitcoin’s steep ascent since the pandemic has been set back in recent weeks, with challenges coming from increased regulation in China and the U.S., and rising concerns about its environmental impact. Some of the regulatory scrutiny may also be paving the path for increased competition from central bank digital currencies, with China being one of the furthest along, and the U.S. announcing last week that it plans a formal exploration.
