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Weekly Economic Commentary | Week of December 15, 2014
Highlights Statements following the final FOMC meeting of 2014, particularly on the recent drop in oil prices and its impact on the U.S. economy, could have ramifications for near- and long-term monetary policy. The FOMC will also provide markets with a new set of targets at this meeting, as it does four times a year.…
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Weekly Economic Commentary | Week of December 8, 2014
Highlights The latest Beige Book reflected a picture of the U.S. economy that has been largely unaffected by the increasing market concern over falling oil prices, the end of QE in the United States, and the rising U.S. dollar. The report suggested that U.S. economic activity has “continued to expand,” and in general, optimism regarding…
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Weekly Economic Commentary | Week of December 1, 2014
Highlights: We believe the U.S. economy will continue its transition from the slow gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 2011-2013 to more sustained, broad-based growth. We expect the U.S. economy will expand at a rate of 3% or slightly higher in 2015, which matches the average growth rate over the past 50 years. U.S. Economic…
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Weekly Economic Commentary | Week of November 17, 2014
Highlights The much weaker than expected Q3 GDP reading in Japan is a modest threat to overall global growth for 2014 and into 2015. We continue to believe the global economy will continue to expand in 2014, 2015, and beyond. The pace and composition of the policy response from Japan in the coming weeks and…
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Weekly Economic Commentary | Week of November 10, 2014
Highlights The drop in gasoline prices over the fall and summer months has been a plus for spending, but other factors have a much bigger impact on the consumer. The better tone to the labor market, the sharp rise in household net worth, and prerecession levels of consumer confidence all act as supports for the…
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Weekly Economic Commentary | Week of November 4, 2014
Highlights The Fed ended its bond purchase program last week and the bar has been set fairly high for restarting more QE. The economy is in far better shape today, compared with the start of QE in 2008 and the end of QE1 and QE2. It is probably too soon to know if QE has…