Other posts

Thoughts From The Divide: Signs of Life

BY JON WEBB
For those of us who regularly follow the “wonksphere” on social media, it’s been hard to ignore the pushback against the doom and gloom that economic sentiment surveys have consistently reported. Commentators like Stancil and Sahm have bitterly complained about the disconnect between the public’s negative perceptions relative to the hard economic data, which is ostensibly pretty good. In this, they have been carrying water for policymakers like Lael Brainard, who have attempted to burnish the Administration’s economic achievements to push back against the negative perception of the economy. The most obvious of those achievements is the decline in inflation – see, we told you it was transitory! Read more →

MI2 Partners: Thoughts From The Divide: Rules and Guidelines

BY JON WEBB
In our note from April of 2020, which now feels like half a lifetime ago rather than less than 5 years (it’s not the years but the miles?), we wrote about how COVID and the related crises had “made it clear that in many ways, reality is more like Calvinball” than an orderly system: one where “the rules of the game around the world appear to be in flux”. This week has provided yet more evidence, if any more was needed, for this view. Read more →

Thoughts From the Divide: Avoiding the Inverse

BY JON WEBB
Along with the release of the January Fed minutes this week, there was a deluge of Fed Speak, with Jefferson, Harker, Waller, and Cook all opining on the outlook for cuts. Most of the refrain was along the lines of Powell’s need for “confidence”, with Waller saying that he needed “to see at least another couple more months of inflation data” and Cook echoing the idea, saying that “as we gain greater confidence that disinflation is ongoing and sustainable, that changing outlook will warrant a change in the policy rate”. Harker pushed back on immediate cuts, asking for markets to “just give us a couple of meetings”, following up by saying, “I would caution anyone from looking for it right now and right away”. But while there may be some pushback on timing, that cuts are coming appears to be very much fait accompli in the mind of the Fed. Read more →
Back to all posts →