Nonetheless, the Fed is plodding ahead on its balance-sheet reduction plan and raising short-term interest rates too. Listen carefully and you’ll notice a shift in language: Officials have been describing economic “tailwinds” instead of headwinds.
Right or wrong, they think this economy, in which their own experts say one in four jobs pay only poverty-level wages, is growing just fine and needs no stimulus. If anything, they want to slow it down.
I doubt this will end happily, but we’ll find out soon.
This week, I’m in San Diego for the Strategic Investment Conference, so maybe I’ll get answers to some of those questions. I especially want to hear economists Lacy Hunt, David McWilliams and David Rosenberg.
If you aren’t attending the conference in person, you can still join the fun with our Virtual Pass. You get video and audio recordings of all the sessions (20+ hours) and access to the live stream if you want to watch as it happens.
Better yet, order now, and you can save $400 off the Virtual Pass. Click here to learn more.
Patrick Watson is senior economic analyst for Mauldin Economics. He is the editor of their high-yield income letter, Yield Shark and co-editor of the premium alert service, Macro Growth & Income Alert. You can also follow him on Twitter (@PatrickW) to see his commentary on current events.