Part one of a two-part series on the Fed’s approach to inflation. Part two will appear next week. There’s probably not a consumer in America who worries about prices being…
Volatility Indicators Flashing Danger Ahead
It wasn’t long ago that volatility seemed to have flat-lined. Those were the good old days. Just look at market results for the past two months and you’ll see a…
Inflation Almost There, But Interest Rates Are Not
The Federal Reserve Board acknowledged at its meeting last week that the rate of inflation is “almost” at its 2% target level. The last impediment to raising interest rates to…
Does the U.S. Have Less Economic Freedom Than Socialist Countries?
On the 2018 Index for Economic Freedom, which we wrote about yesterday, it wasn’t surprising to see that three Communist countries – Cuba (#178), Venezuela (#179) and North Korea (#180)…
U.S. #18 in Economic Freedom
We like to think of the United States as the freest, most democratic country in the world. That’s not quite the case. And, in recent years, our economic freedom has…
The Flim-Flam Economy
The absurdity of today’s flim-flam economy can be summarized when the events of the past week are considered together: The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of just 0.5%…
Something’s Rotten …
“That it should come to this!” Hamlet, Act I, Scene II Any student…
Set. Down. No Hike.
The economic outlook can be summed up in five words: Everything’s great, except what isn’t. We’ll lead with the “everything’s great” part, as seen through the filter of the Federal…
Making America Great Again
It’s clear that in spite of boisterous bad behavior, a lack of workable policies and a few very bad ideas, Donald Trump is the odds-on favorite to become the Republican…
Just In Time for Christmas
Even if it were wrapped in shiny paper with a big red bow on it, virtually everyone would have guessed at this year’s Christmas present from the Federal Reserve Board.…