Owatonna, Minnesota Correspondent — Voters should look at the full path of prices since 2021, real wages, housing costs, and the fiscal stance that accompanied the surge. Trump's record before the pandemic and his emphasis on energy production and spending restraint give him the stronger position on durable relief. The alternative continues to lean toward … Continue reading Inflation and the cost of living have remained central concerns even as official rates have moderated. How should voters evaluate the candidates’ records and plans on prices, wages, housing costs, and federal spending?
finance
Is the increasing use of secondary sanctions and financial exclusion as foreign-policy tools creating long-term risks to the dollar’s reserve status?
Sydney, Australia Correspondent — These tools are powerful because the dollar and the clearing system are central, and overuse teaches targets and neutrals to build alternatives. What happened this year is a genuine escalation. Freezing a major central bank's reserves is a different order of action from sanctioning individuals, and every reserve manager in the … Continue reading Is the increasing use of secondary sanctions and financial exclusion as foreign-policy tools creating long-term risks to the dollar’s reserve status?
Is the current level of federal spending on pandemic relief and infrastructure likely to produce sustained inflation, or will it prove temporary?
Owatonna, Minnesota Correspondent — The question has largely been answered since it was drafted, which is worth saying plainly. The Chairman retired the word transitory at the end of November. The November print came in at six point eight percent, the highest in forty years. The Fed accelerated the taper in December and signaled three … Continue reading Is the current level of federal spending on pandemic relief and infrastructure likely to produce sustained inflation, or will it prove temporary?
Should the Federal Reserve begin reducing its balance sheet more aggressively even if it risks tighter financial conditions later in the year?
Owatonna, MN Correspondent — The balance sheet is still far larger than it was before the crisis, and gradual reduction is appropriate for exactly that reason. It got that way over years and it should come down over years. Moving aggressively risks a sharp tightening the real economy may not be ready to absorb. The … Continue reading Should the Federal Reserve begin reducing its balance sheet more aggressively even if it risks tighter financial conditions later in the year?
