For some time now I have been advocating for a more normal short term interest rate policy from the Federal reserve vs. the ZIRP (Zero Interest Rate Policy) that they have been pursuing. My reasoning was, although the US GDP was not humming along at a more normal 3% real trend-line growth rate, things were…
Tag: unemployment
Session 105–It’s Demographics, Stupid!
It’s Friday May 2, 2014 and we get good news on the employment front. The unemployment rate has dropped to 6.3% from 6.7%…the lowest since the fall of 2008. The bad news is that one of the reasons for this precipitous drop is that there was a big jump in the number of people who…
Session 91–“Born Under A Bad Sign”
“Born under a bad sign. I’ve been down since I began to crawl. If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all.” This is one of my favorite tunes from one of the finest rock bands to come out of the 1960’s, “Cream”, music and lyrics by William Bell and Booker…
Session 60–Mandate 3, “Do No Harm”
The Federal Reserve has a dual mandate: maximum employment ( between 5.2% and 6% unemployment ) and price stability (currently, inflation at 2% or less). After last Wednesday’s decision on ‘the taper’ I think they should take a page from the medical profession and add a third mandate, “do no harm.” I believe the Fed’s…
Session 47–Bernanke Speaks!
Maybe our title should be, “Bernanke, et. al. Speak, Repeatedly”. For the most part, the message is the same: the tapering of QE will be data-derived and dependent on economic fundamentals in the United States, unemployment stats in particular. The Fed Chair addressed The National Bureau of Economic Research conference today. His topic was a…
Session 30–Why I Write This Blog: A Quintessential Example from CNBC.com!!
“ ‘ Real’ Jobless Rate still above 10 % in most states.” “The Economy may stink, but the market doesn’t care.” “Why Jobs Outlook Just Got A Whole Lot Worse.” This is the headline and subtopic list from today’s edition of CNBC.com. Kudos to the editor, John Carney and senior writer, Jeff Cox for this memorable piece…