6 August 2019 The US Federal Reserve's recent decision to reduce interest rates a stingy 25bp, and to deliver a less-dovish-than-expected statement raises more questions than it answered. Was the rate cut a one-time adjustment to provide insurance against the prospect of weaker growth ahead? Did Chairman Jerome Powell react to White House pressure? If [...]
6 February 2019 During these Winter months, my breakfast typically consists of a big, steaming bowl of porridge! As in the Goldilocks fairy tale, however, getting the recipe right requires some experimentation. Often the same is true of monetary policy decision-making. In search of a soft landing for the US economy -- neither too hot, [...]
22 October 2017 Investors appear convinced that stimulative G-7 monetary policies lie behind the markets’ record-setting performance. To be sure, that was the case between 2009 and 2015. During the past three years, however, I believe the impact of monetary policy has been quite neutral, the key driver of markets more recently has shifted from [...]
Despite falling (and in some cases cyclically low) unemployment rates, wage gains are more modest now than a year ago. Central bankers are stumped by this mystery. Whatever happened to the Philips Curve, which showed a strong relationship between unemployment and wage/price inflation? At any rate, as long as wage gains remain modest, central bankers [...]