Tag Archives: newsletter

Despite "concerns" about increasing federal debt, in the end Republican legislators have gone along with whatever the ruling elites want. The Limit, Save and Grow Act of 2023 is more of the same. Original Article: "Republicans Fail on the Debt Ceiling in 2023" [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

As reported by Reason, Colorado—one of thirty-one states that had banned its local governments from imposing rent control—is considering repealing that ban. Recent efforts to allow or impose similar controls have also taken place in New York, California, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Minnesota. However, there is a good reason that most states still ban the local imposition of rent control laws. The key reason is that the primary advantage of local determination in a...

Overview: The Fed's hawkish hold and signal that it may raise rates two more time this year sent ripples through the capital markets. Risk appetites have been dealt a blow. However, China's rate cut and likely additional supportive measures after disappointing data, helped lift the CSI 300 by 1.6%, the most this year. The Hang Seng rose by nearly 2.2%, the most in three months. Europe's Stoxx 600 is snapping a three-day advance and US index futures are trading...

The classical liberal economist Edmund Phelps wants government to aid poor people, but he clearly is not an egalitarian. His philosophy would be unacceptable to today's "woke" egalitarians. Original Article: "Edmund Phelps on Egalitarianism" [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

The federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released new price inflation data Tuesday, and according to the report, price inflation during May decelerated, coming in at the lowest year-over-year increase in twenty-six months. According to the BLS, Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rose 4.0 percent year over year in May before seasonal adjustment. That’s down from April’s year-over-year increase of 4.9 percent, and May is the twenty-seventh month in a...

Despite America’s attention abroad being largely Russia-focused recently, the bigger fish to fry in Washington’s eyes is China. Even as the US pours aid package after aid package into the Ukraine conflict with one hand, it still manages to raise its other hand to wag a finger across the Pacific Ocean at its rival superpower. But like every other country in the world, China has been watching America’s cavalier foreign policy and interventionism in the past decades....

Contrary to the still-enduring myth about Republican budget cutting, there is no correlation whatsoever between Republican control of DC and the trajectory of federal spending. Original Article: "The Republican Debt-Ceiling "Deal" Is Exactly What We Expected" [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter

The euro has traded between roughly $1.0485 and $1.1100 so far this year. The average is about $1.08, where it traded above yesterday for the first time in 2 ½ weeks. Recall that the euro rallied from around $1.05 in mid-March (amid speculation that the banking stress was going to force the Fed to cut) to around $1.1100, where it stalled in late April and early May. We argued that the rate cut expectations had swung too far and that as they converged back with...

Onlookers often cannot fathom why Barbados and Jamaica have delivered such divergent outcomes despite their similar history as former colonies of England. Both countries achieved independence in the 1960s and inherited British law and institutions. Yet Barbados eclipsed her peers to become the pride of the developing world, whereas Jamaica recorded years of anemic growth and institutional degradation. However, digging deeper into history reveals that Barbados pursued...

Overview: The year-end effective Fed funds rate implied in the futures market is about 5.11%. The rate has been averaging 5.08% since the Fed hiked rates last month The Fed may go to pains to explain that the steady that to be announced later today is just a pause to get a better read on the economy, the market favors this to be the end of the tightening cycle. The dollar is trading softer against nearly all the G10 currencies. Emerging market currencies are more...