Update 607 — Inflation Eases an InchBut Hits Home(s): Prices, Sales, Rents The main takeaway from yesterday’s CPI report: inflation remains high, though decelerating marginally. CPI increased for consumer goods by 0.3 percent in April, down from the 1.2 percent increase in March. Increases in prices for food, airline fares, new vehicles, and shelter contributed …
Update 606 — Fed’s 50 bp Rate Hike:Tight Labor Market Cause and Effect Per this morning’s jobs report, the US economy added 428,000 jobs in April, average hourly wages are up 5.5 percent from a year ago, and unemployment stayed at a mere 3.6 percent – a near 50-year low – showing that Americans are getting back …
Update 602 — Symptom vs. Disease:Fighting Inflation by Relieving Costs There is a difference between battling inflation, which is the Fed’s errand, and battling its effects, which is more of a fool’s errand. With prices up 8.5 percent from a year ago and midterm primary season starting next month, the temptation is to focus on easing costs …
Update 593 — Fed Hikes Rates 25 bps:Brakes on Inflation, and Recovery Too? After fostering and assisting economic recovery in manifold ways, the Fed is reversing course. Today, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell announced the Fed will be raising interest rates by 25 basis points (or 0.25 percentage points). This is the first rate hike since December 2018 …
Update 592 — Inflation as a Cost of WarAnd an Economic Stress Test for the West Record job growth, rising wages, and massive GDP gains notwithstanding, yesterday’s inflation news distracts from the macroeconomic picture. The 7.9 percent CPI jump bears on all Americans directly. Many sense that the war Putin started in Ukraine and the consequent energy …
Update 590 — Jobs Jump 678K from Jan;Economy Hot but Inflation is too (TY Putin) Whether we know it or not, the U.S. economy is hotter than DC in July. With 678K new jobs added last month and unemployment under 4 percent now, and with omicron largely behind us, the issue is the gaping misperception. This rosy …
Update 585 – Sea Change at the Fed? Smooth Sailing for Slate of Nominees Everything from the cost of living to the cost of capital depends on the membership of the Federal Reserve Board. Dr. Lisa Cook, Sarah Bloom Raskin, and Dr. Phillip Jefferson — nominated by the President to fill out the vacancies on …
Update 579 — Powell Reappointment LikelyBut Progressive Fed Majority Could Follow This morning, the Consumer Price Index showed a flattening in inflation rate gains. Overall CPI is up 0.5 percent in December with year-over-year inflation coming to 7.0 percent compared to November’s numbers of 6.8 percent year-over-year. In his renomination hearing yesterday, Fed Chair Powell pointed …
Update 570 — Just a Head at the Fed:Powell’s Chair and the Other Seats Up This morning’s passage of the Build Back Better Act (BBB) by the House in a 220-213 vote sends the $1.65 trillion in spending initiatives — overhauling federal health care, education, climate, and tax laws, after months of negotiation — to the Senate …
Update 564 — Emerging Fin. Systemic Risks:Assessing Asymmetrics: Crypto and Climate Feverish negotiations on BIF and BBB continue on the Hill. Elsewhere in Washington, broader issues will get more attention once the big-ticket items are disposed of this fall. The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), created by the Dodd-Frank Act after the 2008 financial crisis, will face new, growing …
