Fed Zigs, Hoenig Zags?
More often than not, the Federal Reserve presents a united front in as many of their statements as possible. So we should take notice when – like now – there is a high profile departure from the consensus opinion. “Monetary policy is a useful tool, but it cannot solve every problem faced by the United [...]
Ebb and Flow
In a surprise move today, the Federal Reserve raised the somewhat low-profile discount rate from 0.50% to 0.75%. Supposedly, they are backing away from “emergency” operations and things are slowly getting back to “normal”. In the great scheme of things, this doesn’t sound like much, but rate cycles are long term events and while we [...]
Free Money
Today, the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates to 1%. Don’t get confused though, you can’t borrow money at 1%, just the banks. Can you imagine what you could do if you could borrow money so inexpensively? I’m sure the banks have a few ideas of their own too. But that’s the problem, isn’t it? The [...]