Jeb Graham: 3 Reasons Why The Fed Is Wrong And It's A Good Time To Buy Treasuries
09/25/23 08:00AM - The Federal Reserve interest-rate forecast issued last week was more hawkish than almost anyone imagined. Despite what chair Jerome Powell acknowledged as three straight good inflation reports, policymakers now expect to hold their key rate a half-percent higher through 2024 than they envisioned in June. With the Fed still indicating one more …more…
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Scott White: It Is Time To Change Math Requirements In College Admissions
09/24/23 07:24PM - David Bressoud, a mathematics professor at Macalester College and former president of the Mathematical Association of America noted that the number of students taking calculus in high school jumped from 30,000 in 1980 to over 800,000 today. He attributes this to changes in college admissions standards at highly selective colleges. "You are …more…
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Ruchir Sharma: America’s mini economic miracle may be fleeting
09/24/23 12:00PM - Biden-era spending has turbocharged growth — but the resulting debts may bring pain. Close up of the eagle sculputre on the facade of the Federal Reserve building in Washington. The American economy is estimated to have grown at a rate of 3 per cent or more this quarter, a pace as blistering as it was unforeseen. Economists had not predicted …more…
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John Tamny: The Boundless Foolishness Underlying 'Soft Landing’ Mythology
09/24/23 10:00AM - It's estimated that The Public Investment Fund (Saudi Arabia's sovereign investment fund) has $776 billion in total assets. $35 billion of that wealth is estimated to have found its way to the U.S. This minor anecdote is yet another reminder that the Federal Reserve's power to control the flow of dollars stateside is wholly theoretical. Repeat …more…
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Komal Sri-Kumar: Powell the Hawk? Its All Transitory
09/23/23 11:07AM - Action Will Fall Far Short of Words. As widely expected, the Federal Open Markets Committee announced Wednesday that it will keep the Federal Funds rate unchanged. At the same time, 12 of 19 Fed officials suggested that the rate will be increased one more time this year – on November 1 or December 13. The remaining seven colleagues expect …more…
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Allison Schrager: Private Equity Won’t Diversify Your Portfolio
09/22/23 06:00AM - Investing in such funds makes sense if you want more risk and illiquidity — and are willing to pay for it. Low interest rates can lead people to rationalize all sorts of bad ideas: investing in companies that will never make a profit, financing share buybacks with debt, spending billions on terrible streaming content, to name a few. But maybe …more…
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Greg Ip: Higher Interest Rates Not Just for Longer, but Maybe Forever
09/22/23 12:02AM - Rate projections suggest many Fed officials see a rising ‘neutral rate’. On Wednesday, Federal Reserve officials surprised markets by signaling interest rates won’t fall as much as previously planned. The tweak might be more important than it looks. In their projections and commentary, some officials hint that rates might be higher not just …more…
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Mohamed El-Erian: The plight of the 'permacrisis’ and what to do about it
09/22/23 12:00AM - The complexity of central banks’ ‘last mile’ on inflation is part of a bigger economic challenge. “I know it’s complicated.” That was European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde’s response to a question on the policy outlook earlier this month. Lagarde isn’t the only central bank chief signalling the complex road ahead as their …more…
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Mark Mills: The EV Jobs Myth
09/21/23 02:09PM - A transition to an all-electric-car future won’t mean less labor but more—much of it overseas. Many claim that the United Auto Workers strike is, at core, a reaction to an "inevitable" transition to an all-electric-car future. They say that this future involves fewer jobs because electric vehicles (EVs) are supposedly simpler machines …more…
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Jeanna Smialek and Ben Casselman: Are High Rates Going to Last? Fed Officials Increasingly Think So.
09/21/23 01:40PM - Federal Reserve officials forecast higher interest rates through 2026 this week, a sign that borrowing costs are not heading back to the rock-bottom levels normal before the pandemic. The era of ultralow interest rates may be over. At the very least, policymakers don’t expect the type of low borrowing costs that prevailed before the pandemic …more…
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Veronique de Rugy: 'Bidenomics' Is Failing Everyday Americans
09/21/23 08:00AM - The big spending has fueled higher inflation, resulted in larger-than-projected deficits, and contributed to a record level of debt. As election season approaches, Democrats are touting the economic results of Biden administration policies aimed at improving the lives of working Americans and creating a more equitable economy. But …more…
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William Luther: Fed Continues to Signal Another Rate Hike
09/20/23 08:00PM - The Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to hold its federal funds rate target range at 5.25 to 5.50 percent on Wednesday. However, FOMC members also signaled that another rate hike is likely in the fourth quarter of this year. In the latest Summary of Economic Projections, twelve of nineteen FOMC members projected …more…
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