Commentator Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard reignited a fierce debate this week, though it seems like he correctly surmised at the time anonymity would have been preferable. Speaking with author Charles Murray, Kristol echoed a sentiment that has been underneath a lot of what passes for analysis these past few years of the “rising dollar.” Being one prominent Never-Trumper, [...]
QE and ZIRP were monetary experiments, though that is not how they were presented. In public, QE in particular was given a subtext of certainty, that Ben Bernanke’s Fed (or Mario Draghi’s ECB) knew exactly what it took to get the job done and furthermore would get right at it. It was a job that all Americans of all kinds [...]
In the aftermath of the “rate hike” in December, there was a rush to quantify, as far as expectations of political considerations may be attainable in such format, just how much the Fed would further “hike” in 2017 as a distillation of how good they figured the economy to be. As overall “reflation”, however, that was more of a media [...]
Ever since the Reserve Primary fund broke the buck on September 17, 2008, policymakers have been quick to demonize money market funds as the weakness in an otherwise sound regulatory regime. MMF’s are a sort of deadzone for regulatory treatment, just beyond the reaches of depository rules but still within reach of some efforts including, it was believed, monetary policy [...]
Ever since the panic in 2008, the string(s) of events that made up that crisis have undergone tremendous scrutiny and for good reason. Proving, however, that the amount of attention paid to a specific occurrence doesn’t necessarily increase the chances of understanding it, a great deal of what went on then remains a jumble of confusion predicated on mistaken assumptions; [...]
Inventories in the fourth quarter rebounded rather sharply, at least in terms of how inventory is calculated as a contribution to GDP. The GDP version of inventory turned negative in Q2, and was only slightly positive in Q3. In the final quarter of 2016, however, the total change is preliminarily estimated to have been $51.1 billion. That isn’t quite back [...]
Gross Domestic Product for the fourth quarter of 2016 disappointed once again, which is to say that it was perfectly consistent. At just 1.856%, quarter-over-quarter, it was the fifth time out of the past six quarters less than 2%. Only last quarter where unusual export activity pushed GDP up was the growth rate anywhere close to what it should be [...]
At the start of this new year, a new law took effect in Illinois which required hairdressers to obtain training in domestic abuse prevention. Hairdressers. The seeds of the idea were where any stylist in the state would take advantage of what is presumed a very close relationship between a woman and the person, presumed also to be a woman, [...]
When the FOMC first voted to taper QE, all the way back in late 2013, they did so because their modeled projections were pointing up in every way. Among the positive factors in those equations was fiscal policy that moving forward into 2014 would be far less of a “restraint.” It has been a big point of emphasis in monetary [...]
At one point in time not all that long ago, basic economics (small “e”) ruled central banking. There was really no other choice, as out of necessity bred change and understanding. The English were perhaps first in that lead, as the Empire with greatest economic and financial reach. It is interesting what we take for granted today as if it [...]
Stay In Touch