A caller asked me about the necessity of interest rate decreases for the economy. I answered on air, and expand on that answer a bit here.
Interest rate decreases are a cure in search of an ailment
Yield Spreads
With the discussion of the Federal Reserve and policy decisions coming back in front of the national debate these days it seems some more interest rate data would be good to review. The fiscal-monetary dynamic seems destined to be re-opened with lots of questions about the appropriate stance of policies, sequence of policies, and of course the incessant whining about policies (mostly monetary).
Continue reading Yield SpreadsTrade Policy, Fed Policy, and North Dakota
The Federal Reserve seems likely to continue raising rates into the foreseeable future making it a likely candidate for the ire of President Trump. The irony is that the President’s own trade policies likely make the Fed take actions to increase rates.
Continue reading Trade Policy, Fed Policy, and North DakotaThe Fed and Normalization
Over the last few weeks there were multiple calls to the radio show regarding the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate moves and where they are going. There is a general questioning of why the Fed is moving to raise rates now.
Continue reading The Fed and NormalizationPresident Trump’s Fiscal Follies
I caught numerous headlines last week about the President unhappy with the Fed raising rates (here is one from CNN). I am not going to get into whether the President can or cannot criticize the Fed, and I am actually not going to get into whether he should. The question we need to ask is whether or not he is correct about economic policy.