Judging by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s recent remarks, reported here by NPR:
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Friday the U.S. continues to recover from the pandemic recession, and that progress could allow the central bank to dial back its extraordinary efforts to prop up the economy later this year.
Powell cautioned, however, that the recovery remains uneven and unpredictable, and said the Fed will continue to monitor incoming data and adjust its policies as needed.
That reminds me of Augustine of Hippo’s ironic prayer, “Give me chastity and continence, but not right now.” There’s a problem but we won’t deal with until later.
Consider the report of inflation:
See that upswing at the end? That’s inflation now. We haven’t seen anything like this in more than 40 years. Inflation in the 70s was “transitory”, too, but it took heroic measures by the Fed to bring it under control.
I’m trying to figure out what the Fed is trying to accomplish. The Federal Reserve, famously, has a dual mandate: to maintain stable prices and keep employment high. But they actually have a third mandate: to regulate banks. The economic slumps of the last 30 years along with the sharp increase in income inequality all have the Fed’s fingerprints all over them. What’s going on?
22% adjustable rate mortgages? Volker did that. My wife and I had a 9.8% 30 year fixed rate and were grateful.
Today the 30 year fixed apr is about 2.4%. What will happen to housing prices and stocks if that goes to 10%?
Coffee went from being sold in 1 lb cans to 12 oz. in 1 lb cans. Eventually they worked off the can inventory, but it was disconcerting to open a can one-fourth empty.
After a while you just expect to be shorted.
At this point, I am worried that people act as if they don’t believe Augustine is going be chaste at some point.