Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Job Growth Slowdown Likely to Reverse The job market is getting better. But at least by one key measure, it’s getting better more slowly. As the Wall Street Journal notes, the year-over-year pace of job growth has slowed over the past year. From February 2011 to February 2012, nonfarm… Continue reading Employment Figures
Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Fed’s Williams: Bond Purchases May Be Tapered by This Summer The U.S. economic recovery may have strengthened enough for the Federal Reserve to begin winding down its bond purchases by as early as this summer, a top official from the central bank said Wednesday. While he cautioned that more… Continue reading But You Promised To Buy Bonds Until At Least 2014
The Wall Street Journal – Beware Tax Reform That Raises Taxes on Capital Policy makers from the House and Senate tax-writing committees have been meeting quietly to discuss reforming the federal tax code, including far-reaching changes to the treatment of corporate income and expenses. Tax reform is a worthwhile goal, but how it is accomplished… Continue reading Tax Reform
The Wall Street Journal – Cyprus Promises New Measures to Secure Rescue Cyprus will limit first-class travel for senior officials, make it easier for banks to seize a person’s home, and cut Easter bonuses to pensioners in exchange for a multibillion-euro bailout from its euro-zone peers and the International Monetary Fund. The country has promised… Continue reading Cyprus
The Wall Street Journal – China to Overtake U.S. as World’s Largest Oil Importer, OPEC Says China could overtake the U.S. as the world’s largest oil importer by 2014, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said, the latest evidence of how the American shale boom is reshaping global energy markets. “With the shale boom… Continue reading More On Oil Consumption
<Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Bank of Japan Launches Easing Campaign The Bank of Japan on Thursday launched an aggressive new easing program in what traders called a surprisingly bold first step by new Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda as he begins his campaign to… Continue reading The Bank of Japan
Bloomberg.com – Caroline Baum: Gold Bugs Had the Best Monetary Rule Ever since the U.S. severed the last remnant of the dollar’s link to gold in 1971, economists have been searching for a new rule for monetary policy. The Great Inflation of the 1970s only reinforced the notion that rules trump discretion. But what sort… Continue reading Which Monetary Policy Model Is Best?
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Bond Traders Club Loses Cachet in Most Important Market Primary dealers, the select group of banks and brokers that have held a seat at the center of the U.S. government debt market since 1960, are losing influence. More than 20 percent of the $538 billion of Treasury… Continue reading Primary Dealers Losing Ground To Computers
The Washington Post – Obama administration pushes banks to make home loans to people with weaker credit The Obama administration is engaged in a broad push to make more home loans available to people with weaker credit, an effort that officials say will help power the economic recovery but that skeptics say could open the… Continue reading Obama Goes For The Hair Of The Dog Solution
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Conference Call Presentation/Charts of the Week Audio [audio:https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/503842-682167.mp3|titles=Conference Call] Topics Covered This Week Include: What Is Expected For The Economy? The Trend In Economic Surprises 2013 Expectations Economist Forecasts – Who Thinks What? Earnings Outlook – Poor Now, Hope Later Revenue Outlook – Going The Wrong Way The Fed’s Balance Sheet And Stocks Economists Still… Continue reading Conference Call Presentation/Charts of the Week
<Click on chart for larger image> The Huffington Post – The Bernanke Fed’s Printing Press Explosion Now Exceeds Two Trillion Dollars As of March 20, 2013 the Ben Bernanke Federal Reserve has added $2.101 trillion dollars to the base of the U.S. money supply since September 2008 when the financial crisis erupted. That is a… Continue reading The Federal Reserve’s Printing Press