Peter's Blog

While some still cling to the idea that economic and governmental development of Third World countries will come from external forces, it is becoming a much more widely accepted truth that the most robust long-term growth only comes when it is spurred by the countries themselves. Even when resources come from other countries, a great […]

July’s advance purchasing-manager numbers paint a tale of two economies. The S&P Global Flash U.S. Composite PMI jumped to 54.6—its best showing in seven months—thanks almost entirely to a roaring service sector that notched a 55.2 reading. Manufacturing, by contrast, slipped back into contraction territory at 49.5, a full three points below Wall Street’s consensus […]

Manufacturing in the Federal Reserve’s Fifth District hit the brakes hard in July, and the yellow metal took notice. The Richmond Fed reported Tuesday that its composite manufacturing index collapsed to –20 from June’s already-weak –8, falling well below the consensus expectation of -2. Shipments, new orders, and employment all sank deeper into negative territory, […]

Christopher J. Waller says the central bank should not wait until autumn to ease policy. Speaking to the Money Marketeers of New York University on July 17th, he argued for a 25-basis-point trim to the federal-funds target range “in two weeks.” With growth fizzling, hiring sputtering, and tariffs muddying the inflation picture, Waller believes quick […]

If you ask most people why they have little or no gold, they will often tell you that the stock market gets much higher returns. This is said with a great amount of conviction, as if it were an obvious fact. However, that fact is far less obvious than they might think. Gold has fared […]

Gold finished last week at US $3,352 per ounce, a modest 0.6 % gain that nonetheless leaves the metal up an eye-catching 28.5 % year-to-date. Monday’s trade saw prices probe as high as US $3,365, keeping bullion within arm’s reach of the two-month trading ceiling that technicians have marked at US $3,395. All of this […]

If Donald Trump has his way and recent reports are accurate, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is considering stepping down from his position. While extremely rare, Fed Chairs resigning before the end of their term isn’t entirely unheard of. Powell’s obligations would ordinarily extend to May 2026.

As is the case with many new regulations, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) had the opposite effect as what was implied by its name. President Trump campaigned on reducing inflation and bringing down prices.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher J. Waller used a Dallas Fed podium Thursday to peel back the curtain on the central bank’s swollen balance sheet—and to argue that a slim-down is overdue but shouldn’t be draconian. Since 2007, Fed assets have ballooned from $870 billion (about 6 percent of U.S. GDP) to roughly $6.7 trillion, even […]

Minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s June 17–18 meeting show policymakers content to hold their fire—for now. The Fed kept its benchmark federal-funds range at 4¼–4½ percent and left both the interest rate on reserve balances (4.4 percent) and the primary-credit rate (4.5 percent) untouched. Officials insisted that “recent indicators suggest that economic activity […]