We begin on this eve of July 4—when we celebrate “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”—with an article on money and happiness. Then, we present two articles—one relating to the Federal Reserve’s plans to withdraw stimulus and another about the rate of economic growth.
Unlike the fictional town of Lake Wobegon, it has not been a quiet week on Wall Street. Virtually every financial asset is down. This week we look at different perspectives on Federal Reserve communications occurring last Wednesday when Chairman Bernanke discussed tapering the pace of bond-buying.
Since May 22, markets have been volatile. This week we explore some of the reasons, review a colorful essay on the effects of Fed policy, and what Fed policy is doing to long-term care insurance rates.
Economic growth—where we are, two possible trajectories for the intermediate term, and a “middle way” to stimulate growth that hugs neither ideological extreme. Those are the questions we look at this week.
We begin with an article summarizing sizeable increases in home prices reported by the S&P/Case-Shiller Index. Next, we summarize upbeat news in the Conference Board’s most recent Consumer Confidence Index®. We temper the good news with a report on the state of household finances following the recession. Finally, we present an Issue Brief that explains why housing is so important to the economy as a whole.
Despite volatility of recent days the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index® recently marched to even higher all-time highs. A large part of the fuel is Federal Reserve policy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500® Index recently reached all-time highs. Yet, a seeming disconnect between the economy and the stock market exists. In this blog we focus on news events that clarify the economic situation and Fed policy and the apparent disconnect with the level of the major stock indexes. We also mention an item in the President’s budget proposal that is central to this region’s economy.
We begin this new blog with a look at the low interest rate environment, presenting several views that point to the likelihood short term interest rates will remain low for a long time into the future.