July 28, 2019 — The Fed has some reasons for cutting interest rates at its meeting July 31, or subsequently if the US economy weakens. (And there are some good arguments on the other side as well, if growth remains as strong as it has been over the last year.) But I find less persuasive one argument for easing: a perceived imperative to get inflation up to 2.0% or higher.
June 17, 2019 — This month marks the 10th birthday of the US economic recovery. June 2009 saw the “trough,” the end of the Great Recession of 2007-09. (As always, a declaration that the recession was over could as easily have been phrased less cheerfully as a declaration that the economy had hit “rock bottom.”)
Why such a long expansion?
Who or what deserves credit for the length of the expansion?