US Economics Weekly How patient will the Fed be? With financial markets rebounding this week and the incoming domestic activity data relatively strong, we still expect the “patient” Fed to raise interest rates this year. But core PCE inflation looks... 11th January 2019 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Shutdown likely to continue into third week The Federal government has now been partially shuttered for the past two weeks, which already makes it one of the longest closures on record. Given the intransigence on both sides, there is a very... 4th January 2019 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Markets increasingly pricing in a Fed mistake The clear view in financial markets in the wake of the December FOMC meeting is that any further rate hikes over the coming months are likely to be reversed in 2020. Our long-held forecast is that a... 21st December 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Shutdown will be biggest downside risk in 2019 As the fiscal stimulus fades and the lagged impact of monetary tightening intensifies, we expect GDP growth to slow from 2.9% in 2018 to 2.2% in 2019 and only 1.2% in 2020. Markets apparently believe... 14th December 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Market moves jar with near-term economic prospects The big market moves over the past week – with stock markets and bond yields both falling sharply – present something of a dilemma for our own views. We have long expected an economic slowdown in 2019... 7th December 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly The Powell put and Trump’s gut Fed Chair Jerome Powell's language earlier this week prompted some in the markets to claim he had taken a sudden dovish turn, possibly in response to pointed criticism from President Donald Trump. We... 30th November 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Dec rate hike still on; Focus turns to Trump-Xi summit Growing concerns about the health of the global economy have prompted speculation that the Fed won’t hike interest rates as aggressively as previously believed. We suspect that the strength of the... 21st November 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Slumping oil prices radically alter inflation outlook The collapse in crude oil prices over the past month has radically altered the outlook for headline consumer price inflation over the next 12 months. The stronger dollar will only add to the... 16th November 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Gridlock increasingly likely after Sessions firing The results of this week’s midterm elections were in line with expectations, but President Donald Trump’s unexpected decision to fire his Attorney General Jeff Sessions would seem to reduce the odds... 9th November 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Midterms will split Congress; Fed on hold until Dec. The betting odds suggest that there are few uncertainties surrounding the broad outcomes of Tuesday’s midterm elections, with the Democrats likely to win control of the House while the Republicans... 2nd November 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Shifting policy mix means it’s all downhill from here The recent slump in stock markets is hard to square with the 3.5% annualised gain in third-quarter GDP that follows an even more impressive 4.2% rise in the second. Looking at the details of that... 26th October 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Growth still well above trend in third quarter Data next week are likely to show GDP growth slowing to 3.3% annualised in the third quarter. That would still be well above the economy’s potential growth rate but, looking under the hood, there are... 19th October 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Stock market carnage can’t be blamed on “crazy” Fed It is hard to explain this week’s sharp drop in equity prices in terms of the incoming economic data. True, following the surge in the 10-year Treasury yield that began last week, the sell-off in... 12th October 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Surging interest rates will worsen eventual slowdown The recent strength of the economy appears to be pushing Fed officials in an increasingly hawkish direction. But the corresponding surge in market interest rates this week only reinforces our own view... 5th October 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Economic impact of trade war still modest President Donald Trump’s renewed criticism of Canada this week means that the end-September deadline for a new trilateral NAFTA agreement is set to pass without a deal, increasing the threat that... 28th September 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Rising interest rates will take their toll in 2019 The surge in market interest rates, which continued this week, is already feeding through to higher borrowing costs for households and businesses and leaves us increasingly confident in our view that... 21st September 2018 · 1 min read
