The Bank of Japan Maintains Stimulus Levels Even As Inflation Sits Well Below Target

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on October 7, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Bank of Japan put on a brave face as it announced its latest decision on monetary policy (October 7, 2015) with a big miss on its inflation target looming in … Read more

The Simple Calculus for the Timing of The Fed’s First Rate Hike

“…I expect that inflation will return to 2 percent over the next few years as the temporary factors that are currently weighing on inflation wane, provided that economic growth continues to be strong enough to complete the return to maximum employment and long-run inflation expectations remain well anchored. Most FOMC participants, including myself, currently anticipate … Read more

It Is A Low Rate World – Get Used to It

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 24, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} After reading the actual speech by Andrew Haldane, titled ominously “How low can you go?,” I realized that the BBC had overly focused Haldane’s concluding remarks. I can understand the … Read more

An Anti-Climactic Fed Meeting On the Path of Policy Normalization

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 18, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) If you have followed the CME Group 30-Day Fed Fund futures prices, today’s decision by the Federal Reserve to leave interest rates unchanged did not surprise you. You may have even … Read more

The Reserve Bank of Australia Is Content to Wait for the U.S. Federal Reserve

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 1, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) delivered another plain vanilla decision on monetary policy. The RBA barely even acknowledged the stomach-churning volatility of the past two weeks or so. {snip} Markets … Read more