Is the U.S economy going to be stronger than before the pandemic? Usually, U.S. recessions leave lasting scars on the U.S. economy with unemployment levels rising and remaining at elevated levels and taking many years to recover. However, this time appears to be different. Let’s find out why now from Zacks Chief Equity Strategist and Economist, John Blank.

1. John, why do you think this time will be different?

2. So, could it be that the pandemic was a catalyst and accelerator for developments that were already underway even before the recession?

3. Despite many businesses having to close because of the pandemic, the U.S. economy has shown (so far) a resiliency and ability to adapt fairly quickly to the unforeseen impact of a complete shutdown of social activity. What accounts for that?

4. Do you see an impact to economic growth here from the Delta variant?

5. The Fed just concluded a two day policy meeting. When do you think the curtailing of its bond buying program, thus marking the first step to an interest rate hike?

6. Later this week we’ll see the most recent GDP number and data on the personal consumption expenditure inflation index. As we speak here we don’t know what that data is. But how significant are those numbers to the economy?

7. What about raising the debt ceiling. Is that just a way to buy into economic prosperity?

8. The U.S. consumer still seems alive and well. So let’s look at three of the biggest retail names, Walmart (WMT Quick QuoteWMT - Free Report) , Nike (NKE Quick QuoteNKE - Free Report) and Target (TGT Quick QuoteTGT - Free Report) .

Chief Equity Strategist & Economist, John Blank, on the strength of the U.S. economy. With John, I’m Terry Ruffolo.