The two-pronged Federal Reserve mandate is to control inflation within a pre-determined range and maximize U.S. employment! And from all observations the economy is fulfilling both with the unemployment rate reported July 2018 at 3.9% and the July CPI rising .2% with an annual increase in the core rate of 2.4%. If the economy is […]
The Federal Reserve has two fundamental mandates: maximum employment and stable prices with an upper limit it sets for an acceptable inflation rate! When employment reaches a level that’s known as full and a strong economy results in a shortage of available qualified workers, upward wage pressure can cause the inflation rate to rise. Similarly, when commodity prices […]
Update: Mortgage Rates Jump to 7-Year Highs May 15 2018, 4:02PM Mortgage rates spiked in a big way today, bringing some lenders to the highest levels in nearly 7 years (you’d need to go back to July 2011 to see worse). That heavy-hitting headline is largely due to the fact that rates were already fairly close […]
While interest rates have risen from depths that saw the 10-year treasury yielding 1.36% on 7/3/16, to 2.25% today, given Fed plans to tighten and pledge to shrink its balance sheet should rates be even higher? The Fed will typically engage in the monetary policy of tightening and lift the Fed Funds rate when the two […]
(Note: This article also appears at econintersect.com) This week both the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve will be meeting to chart the future course of interest rates! In the U.S. where prior to the recent small interest rate hike ZIRP or zero interest rate policy had been in place, speculation over whether the Fed will raise or stand […]
How will the Fed’s dual mandate of stable prices and maximum employment affect the future direction of interest rates! If and when an important macroeconomic Federal Reserve indicator fails to be relevant but that fact is not fully recognized by the Fed, how will decisions concerning interest rates based on that failed data input impact the real […]
