Finance & Markets

What Works — And What Doesn’t — in the State’s Incentive Strategy

Louisiana spends heavily on economic incentives — more than $500 million in 2023 alone — in an effort to attract investment, revive communities, and stay competitive with neighboring states. Whether those incentives deliver real value often depends on a simple question: Do they change business decisions that wouldn’t have happened otherwise? To understand which incentives pass that test, we examined perspectives from economic development leaders, business organizations, poli

Nov 212 min read

Behind the Fed’s Repo Spike: Why Louisiana Businesses Should Pay Attention

By Dr. Rajesh Narayanan, Hermann Moyse Jr./Louisiana Bankers Association Professor of Finance Short-term funding markets sent an unmistakable signal at the end of October: liquidity in the U.S. financial system is tightening in ways that extend well beyond routine quarter-end adjustments. Usage of the Federal Reserve’s Standing Repo Facility surged past $50 billion—the highest since the COVID crisis—at the exact moment the Fed’s Overnight Reverse Repo facility fell to just $2

Nov 174 min read

Op-Ed: Stablecoin 'rewards' are a risk to financial stability

By Dr. Dr. Rajesh P. Narayanan - Dr. Narayanan is the Louisiana Bankers Association Professor of Finance in the Department of Finance at Louisiana State University. Congress has long recognized that stablecoins should not function as unregulated bank deposits. The intent of the recently enacted GENIUS Act is clear: to prohibit stablecoin issuers from paying interest or yield to holders, maintaining a distinction between payment instruments and bank deposits which are not onl

Nov 64 min read

OPINION: PBM Reform Can’t Wait

Dear Editor, No matter how strong of a support system someone has, it can’t fix a healthcare structure that seems designed to exhaust people. The biggest frustration I hear, whether it’s from relatives, neighbors, or coworkers, is the constant interference from pharmacy benefit managers. These middlemen companies don’t treat patients or write prescriptions, yet they have enormous power over what medications people can access. In the end, they profit off everyday families,

2 hours ago1 min read

Louisiana to New York: “If You’re Tired of Socialism, Come South.

Gov. Jeff Landry is turning a moment of political upheaval in America’s largest city into an opportunity for Louisiana. Days after New York City elected democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as its next mayor, Landry placed a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal urging businesses to rethink their future in the Big Apple — and to consider Louisiana instead. The headline, printed in bold above the fold, delivered the message with unmistakable clarity: “In Louisiana

Nov 213 min read

OPINION: Broad pharma tariffs could backfire

By Jeffrey Gerrish President Trump keeps proving his critics wrong, especially when it comes to his trade policy. When he announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs in April, investors panicked, and the stock market sold off 20 percent in a matter of weeks. Economists predicted soaring inflation and an imminent recession. Foreign policy analysts scoffed at the president’s pledge to negotiate better deals with trading partners. None of that doom and gloom has come to pass. Stocks

Nov 123 min read

THACKER: We can’t let the Europeans get in the way of affordable energy

Louisiana’s thriving energy economy is a testament to the state and federal regulatory environments that allow it to flourish, because both balance growth with ensuring that the highest safety and environmental standards are followed to the letter of the law. This balance affords us both residential and industrial electricity rates that are significantly lower than national averages. Yet that is not enough for the European Union, which sought to impose statutes, signed an oce

Nov 113 min read

Op-Ed: Stablecoin 'rewards' are a risk to financial stability

Nov 64 min read

Louisiana Farmers Face a Credit Crunch Fueled by Uncertainty in Both Policy and Markets

On a farm in Gilliam, Louisiana, the final harvest is in. Corn, soybeans, cotton, and peanuts have all been cut and loaded. Now, farmer Stephen Logan is spreading cereal rye seed and planning for the next growing season. But this fall, the federal shutdown has left him — and many like him — working without a safety net. For weeks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s local offices have been closed, cutting off access to conservation payments, short-term crop loans, and criti

Oct 233 min read

Williams Invests in Woodside’s Louisiana LNG Venture — What It Means for Louisiana’s Energy Future

Australia’s Woodside Energy has brought U.S. pipeline giant Williams Companies on board as a major investor in its ambitious Louisiana LNG project, marking a major vote of confidence in the Pelican State’s role in the global liquefied natural gas supply chain. Williams will take a 10 percent equity stake in the holding company for the project and assume an 80 percent interest in the associated Driftwood pipeline that will deliver feed gas to the LNG facility. The company is c

Oct 233 min read

How North Louisiana Is Becoming a Business Development Hot-Spot

When people think of Louisiana’s industrial identity, images of oil refineries, chemical plants, and river-port infrastructure often come to mind. But a quiet transformation is taking place in North Louisiana — rooted not just in legacy industry, but in data centers, microchips, manufacturing, and advanced infrastructure. The region is positioning for a substantial shift in its economic trajectory. A marquee anchor: Remaking rural with big tech In December 2024, Meta Platform

Oct 223 min read

When the Supply Chain Eats the Menu

What do fried pickles in Omaha, jalapeño poppers in Brooklyn, and funnel cake fries in Anchorage all have in common? Increasingly, they come from the same place: Sysco. A recent Vox report reveals how this Houston-based distribution giant has quietly reshaped America’s restaurant industry — not by improving it, but by streamlining it to the point of sameness. And while that may sound like a distant, national problem, it hits close to home for Louisiana’s independent restauran

Oct 143 min read

LSU LAW PROF: America can lead the Crypto economy, but not If Congress leaves investors behind

By Professor Del Wright Jr. | LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center Financial innovation in digital assets is rapidly transforming the American...

Oct 133 min read

Finance & Markets

What Works — And What Doesn’t — in the State’s Incentive Strategy

Behind the Fed’s Repo Spike: Why Louisiana Businesses Should Pay Attention

Op-Ed: Stablecoin 'rewards' are a risk to financial stability

OPINION: PBM Reform Can’t Wait

Louisiana to New York: “If You’re Tired of Socialism, Come South.

OPINION: Broad pharma tariffs could backfire

THACKER: We can’t let the Europeans get in the way of affordable energy

Op-Ed: Stablecoin 'rewards' are a risk to financial stability

Louisiana Farmers Face a Credit Crunch Fueled by Uncertainty in Both Policy and Markets

Williams Invests in Woodside’s Louisiana LNG Venture — What It Means for Louisiana’s Energy Future

How North Louisiana Is Becoming a Business Development Hot-Spot

When the Supply Chain Eats the Menu

LSU LAW PROF: America can lead the Crypto economy, but not If Congress leaves investors behind

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