In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis the Federal Reserve engaged in a massive amount of quantitative easing (QE). In addition to pushing interest rates to near zero, the Fed also purchased nearly $2 trillion worth of US government debt. That incentivized the US government to take advantage of the low interest rate environment to issue trillions of...
Building up a nest egg for retirement is only one half of retirement planning. The other half consists of planning to safeguard and maintain that wealth well into the future. Business cycles have been a regular part of the economy for over a century. The booms and busts that occur with regularity are something that need to be taken...
Stock markets soared last week in the aftermath of Fed Chairman Jay Powell’s speech to the Economic Club of New York. In contrast to Powell’s statement in October that the Fed was still a “long way” from the neutral interest rate, Powell last week stated that interest rates now “remain just below the broad range of estimates of the...
Russia has announced its decision to forgo use of the US dollar in response to US sanctions against the country. While the Russian government would prefer not to have to take that measure, it feels that it has no option, seeing what has happened to Iran and not wishing to be cut off from world financial markets if it...
For nearly 80 years the Social Security system in the United States has been paying benefits to retirees. Generations of Americans have grown up and gone to work in the expectation that the Social Security taxes they paid throughout their careers will be repaid with interest once they retire. But as demographic changes alter the makeup of American society...
One of the more disappointing aspects of President Trump’s tenure is the evolution of his criticism of the Federal Reserve System. While candidate Trump rightfully criticized the Fed for artificially depressing interest rates, President Trump has morphed into attacking the Fed for raising its target federal funds rate. While he correctly identified the Fed’s political motivations for keeping interest...
When central banks first began to engage in quantitative easing (QE) policies during the financial crisis, those policies were harshly criticized by sound economists. The idea that printing money out of thin air to purchase worthless assets could somehow strengthen the economy and bring it back from the brink of destruction was an absurd one. All it could do...
It’s that time of the year again, time to get together with family, eat turkey, watch football, and think of all the things to be thankful for. As Americans, we often don’t realize how fortunate we are to live in such a prosperous country. We often complain about “First World problems” that people in less developed problems would kill...
One of the hallmarks of the Federal Reserve System in the modern era is the near unanimity with which it normally makes decisions. With the direction of policy being guided by the Fed’s chairman, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has rarely had members dissent from its decisions. When dissent does occur, especially when a number of members dissent,...
While every American dreams of retirement, the big question most people face is how much money they will need to save up in order to retire comfortably. Many financial planners advise at least a million dollars worth of assets which, thanks to the recent stock market boom, is not outside the reach of many Americans anymore. But others recommend...