The Federal Reserve raised short-term interest rates by another quarter point on Wednesday. That, by itself, was clear, with the Fed now targeting a range for short-term rates between 4.75% and 5.00%. The problem was that the Fed continues to ignore the most important...
Trusted Economic Perspectives
Ignore the Crazy | March 13, 2023
The top tax rate on capital gains and dividends would go to 44.6% versus a current 23.8% (almost double!), the top tax rate on regular income would go to 44.0%. Taxes would go up on S Corporations, small business income, and interest income.
Hard Landing, Soft Landing, or No Landing | February 27, 2023
In the past few weeks, a growing chorus of economists and investors have decided that the pessimistic narrative had it wrong all along, that the US isn’t headed for a hard landing, which would mean a recession, it isn’t even headed for a soft landing…
Biden’s Student-Loan Fiasco
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 1,000 points on Friday, caused apparently by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s attempt to use a brief speech to channel the ghost of Paul Volcker.
Distorted
One thing we must remember when looking at economic data, is that everything is distorted. The US (in fact, much of the world) panicked in 2020.
Silly Season
With less than three months left before the 2022 midterm elections, it is officially silly season when
it comes to interpreting economic reports.
Tax Hikes: Bad, But Bearable
With the Senate having passed a budget plan yesterday with only Democratic votes as well as a tie broken by Vice President Harris…
Monetary Muddle
The Federal Reserve raised short-term interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point (75 basis points) on Wednesday.
Refocusing the Fed
If you follow the financial press, the conventional wisdom has come to the simple conclusion that the way to fight inflation is raising interest rates.
Mortgage Reset Alarmism Is Off the Mark
Some investors think the US is already in a recession. As we wrote two weeks ago and as recent data have confirmed, we don’t think that’s the case.