The conventional wisdom among fixed income market seers is that the Federal Reserve will continue to tighten credit, raising the fed funds target rate multiple more times before they are finished! This is due to a stronger economy, inflation under control and unemployment at low levels suggesting full employment. This scenario presents the Fed with a […]
The Federal Reserve has two fundamental mandates: maximum employment and stable prices with an upper limit it sets for an acceptable inflation rate! When employment reaches a level that’s known as full and a strong economy results in a shortage of available qualified workers, upward wage pressure can cause the inflation rate to rise. Similarly, when commodity prices […]
(Note: This article also appears at econintersect.com) This week both the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve will be meeting to chart the future course of interest rates! In the U.S. where prior to the recent small interest rate hike ZIRP or zero interest rate policy had been in place, speculation over whether the Fed will raise or stand […]
Come the December Fed meeting and after the strong jobs report that was recently released, does the Fed have any choice but to raise rates? The betting in the futures market leans to the side of a Fed tightening, or raising, of rates. But some of the actual economic evidence may seem to indicate that […]
The Federal Reserve has a dual mandate: Stable prices and maximum employment! Given the state of that mandate vis a vis the current condition of the U.S. economy, the answer to the question of if and when the Fed will begin to raise rates is that no one knows. But nonetheless that question has become […]
How will the Fed’s dual mandate of stable prices and maximum employment affect the future direction of interest rates! If and when an important macroeconomic Federal Reserve indicator fails to be relevant but that fact is not fully recognized by the Fed, how will decisions concerning interest rates based on that failed data input impact the real […]
