Update 553 — Last Rodeo at Jackson Hole?Rush to Renominate Fed Chair Powell Slows Investors and observers await Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech tomorrow at the Kansas City Fed’s annual Jackson Hole Conference. Issues abound: inflation, the still-recovering labor market, tapering down Fed’s balance sheet, and the economic uncertainty from the Delta variant. Unspoken is whether …
Update 546 — You Can’t Bank on That:63 Mil. Short of Credit, Account Services All eyes today were on the Senate’s bipartisan negotiations and an initial vote to move to debate on the infrastructure bill. Moments ago, Republicans defeated the motion, 51-49, with 60 votes needed. With GOP negotiators signaling they will not have bill …
Update 545 — Powell Promotes Recovery;Accommodates Growth and Mild Inflation Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testified this week before the House Financial Services and Senate Banking Committees. Since his last testimony in February, the economy has begun to improve, with strong GDP growth expected this year. Inflation, as expected, has increased. He has much to say about …
Update 535 — Optimal Levels of Inflation:What to Hope For and Expect in Recovery The May jobs report, out today, reflects an economy in transition, headed steadily toward recovery. U.S. employers added 559,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate went down by 0.3 percent. The favorable trajectory still leaves open the length of recovery …
Update 534 — Megabank CEOs Hit Hill:Issues, Attacks Heard; Less So Consensus The CEOs of the six “megabanks” testified before the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees this week, addressing issues ranging from the pandemic response to climate risk to racial justice to wage disparities. Some questions arose concerning the banking sector itself but …
Update 532 — A Round with the Regulators:Financial Policy Issues Left, Front and Center These are flush times for banks — lending volume, interest rates, and share prices are on the rise and the economy is primed for a vertical recovery. What could go wrong? This week, Congress heard from the heads of the financial …
Update 527 — Yellen Moves MarketsAnd Can Remove FSOC Roadblocks The Federal Reserve surprised no one last Wednesday by continuing its near-zero interest rate policy and large-scale asset purchases. But markets tumbled Tuesday after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen mentioned the possibility of raising rates, at some point, to prevent the economy from overheating. In the …
Update 518 — Route to Recovery:Any Bandwidth for Public Banking? Later this afternoon, President Biden will outline his multi-trillion dollar infrastructure investment plan, his framework for the Recovery Act. The centerpiece of the pie is infrastructure investment and modernization, including broadband access, a vital concern for the 24 percent of rural Americans and millions of …
Update 357 — Ex-Im Bank Reauthorization; Bizarre Bugbear of Incoherent Opposition If ever there were a government program a Trump administration could love, it would be the Ex-Im Bank. It finances American trade and jobs and supports critical industry, including national defense contractors, doing so at a profit to taxpayers. Yet, to run the Bank, …
Update 355: Democrats and Rural America as Trump Gives Farmers Crumbs, not Cake Last week, the Trump administration announced a $16 billion aid package for farmers in an effort to bail out those affected by the continuing trade war with China. But the bailout sop may not be wooing rural Americans. Per Bill Gordon, vice-president …
