interest rates

As you know, the CPI registered a whopping 5% yesterday. Year-on-year inflation hasn't been this high since the Gulf War. So much for the 'Great Moderation.' But the increase in inflation begs another question: why are interest rates so…

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 1.0 percent in June, before seasonal adjustment, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The June level of 218.815 (1982-84=100) was…

Last month, in a post called 'Chart of the day: real hourly earnings' I said that U.S. real wage rates were lower today than they were a generation ago on the eve of the first oil hock. hat's pretty poor. Today 'UK Bubble' highlights the…

Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) blasted Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who was giving the semiannual monetary policy report before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee today. His comments were the sharpest I heard throughout the…

A month ago, the market was rampant with crazy speculation, not about if the Fed was going to raise rates, but when and by how much."Fed Funds futures now imply a near certainty of two 25 basis point rate increases by November."-FT, 10 Jun…

In the Wall Street Journal today, Ted Forstmann, of LBO giant Forstmann and Little fame, has warned that the credit crisis is far from over. Forstmann, who presciently called the bubble in High Yield ad LBO financing twenty years ago, is a…

This is a story about how the ECB move affects individuals. As much as I support the ECB rate hike, one has to remember that real people are very much affected by these policy decisions. This is what makes these decisions difficult.

Recession worries at the heart of Europe deepened as it was revealed that factory orders in Germany declined unexpectedly for the sixth straight month. With inflation and interest rates rising, it seems rather unlikely that Germany can…

I have said that the Fed is dovish and wants inflation to do its job of reducing the economic burden of the massive debt in the United States. Fed Governor William Poole, who just recently left the Fed, has apparently confirmed this. See…

Monetary policy has never been so interesting. With price increases in food and energy causing upheaval around the globe, citizens of the world are crying out for policy makers to get a handle on inflation. Yet, the global banking system…