Category Archive

Congress has one more week of their August/Labor Day recess before returning to DC on September 13 for a three-week pre-midterm session where mission number one is to pass a stopgap budget measure to in order to prevent a partial government shutdown on October 1. While the Congress is out of session there have been behind the scenes talks to …

Those who follow markets and policy were all anticipating the speech at the Jackson Hole gathering of Fed officials and economists of Fed Chair Jay Powell. The speech was short and to the point: inflation remains the central banks number one concern, and action to bring inflation down is the focus of Fed policy. The Chair made several key points; …

Next week the major public policy event will be in Jackson Hole, Wyoming where Chair Powell is scheduled to give a major policy address. Over the years the gathering at Jackson Hole, organized by the Kansas City Fed, has become the spot for major addresses by Fed Chairs. As is the case most years the FOMC is not having an …

After House Democrats passed their dream list of priorities in the $2T Build Back Better (BBB) legislation, there was huge disappointment when it died in the Senate due to the opposition of Senator Joe Manchin. Today the House approved the new Inflation Reduction Act, sending it to the President for a big-deal signing ceremony at the White House, likely next …

Ever since Senators Schumer and Manchin announced their $700B deal for the Senate to pass a modified Build Back Better bill under the budget reconciliation process there have been two question marks: would Arizona Senator Sinema support the bill and what sections would win the approval of the Senate Parliamentarian? The first question was answered last night when Senator Sinema …

The economic highlight of the week in DC was the action of the Fed’s FOMC to increase the base rate by 75bps. As has been the policy under Jay Powell the action was well-telegraphed and the markets had expected the increase. At his press conference after the meeting Chair Powell was purposely evasive about future policy, making his core point …

Next week the Fed’s long anticipated July meeting of the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) occurs on Tuesday and Wednesday.  At the conclusion of the meetings Fed Chair Powell will meet the press at 2:30pm on Wednesday.  These briefings can be market-moving events and immediately follow the announcement of the Fed’s rate decision. With Washington taking an August break the …

President Biden is on the second leg of his trip to the Middle East.  His first stop was Israel and the Palestinian Authority.  The President promised US financial aid to both sides; but in Israel the principal topic was Iran and the effort to stop them from getting a nuclear weapon. Progressive Democrats had wanted President Biden to reverse decisions …

The assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shows that unfortunately the US doesn’t have a monopoly on gun violence.  It is premature to speculate on whether or not there will be any implications for global relations but it is a reminder of the risk that is constantly facing policy makers. Wednesday the much anticipated minutes from the June …

Fed Chair Powell spoke this past week at the European Central Bank Forum and he repeated his view that fighting inflation is the Fed’s highest priority to prevent an era of persistently high inflation.  However, he continues to express his view that while a soft landing may be tough, it isn’t impossible. Look for renewed focus on the Fed next …