Thoughts from the Frontline: Tag = "Recession"

Flip Side of the Inflation Coin
  • July 14, 2023

Flip Side of the Inflation Coin

The market, and maybe all of us, would like to believe the latest 3% annual CPI number was a harbinger of ever-lower inflation, and we are on the road to 2% inflation by year end. I would argue, “Not so fast.” Inflation is far from dead, and CPI will likely go slightly up between now and the end of the year. The Fed has multiple problems we will examine over the next few weeks.

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Muddled Optimism
  • July 7, 2023

Muddled Optimism

“A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest…”

—The Boxer, Paul Simon, 1969

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Endless Intervention
  • June 30, 2023

Endless Intervention

National leaders are (or should be) reluctant to enter wars because, once begun, they are often hard to end. You could be bogged down for years, vainly trying plan after plan as the damage accumulates.

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A Funny Kind of Recession
  • June 23, 2023

A Funny Kind of Recession

I’ve often thought it would be fun to convene a therapy group of weather forecasters and economic forecasters. Both face the same frustration: Everybody wants a clear, simple answer they can’t possibly give, because they don’t know. Then they get blamed for being wrong anyway.

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A Skip, Not a Stop
  • June 16, 2023

A Skip, Not a Stop

A year ago, the US Consumer Price Index was rising at an almost 9% annual rate. The Federal Reserve was trying to change that trend with tighter policy. But it wasn’t just the Fed. All of us—businesses, consumers, everyone—responded to the pain.

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SIC Mix
  • May 26, 2023

SIC Mix

Business media is famous for propagating buzzwords and phrases, especially if they produce more clicks. The latest is Artificial Intelligence. It’s everywhere and is now a fixture in earnings calls, too. Every CEO is getting asked how AI will fit into or affect their company. It’s not quite as bad as every CEO trying to figure out how to make their company a “dot com” in 1998–1999, but almost.

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A Rosie Forecast, and More
  • May 5, 2023

A Rosie Forecast, and More

World economic growth is slowing. That’s so obvious, very few will disagree. I suppose there are people out there predicting imminent 1990s-like expansion, but they are few and far between. If recession begins soon, it will be the most anticipated one in history.

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Inflationary Choices
  • April 14, 2023

Inflationary Choices

Spotting trend changes is the key to economic forecasting. They don’t happen often. Most of the time, this year will be similar to last year. The pace varies but the overall trend continues… until it doesn’t.

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Disturbing Thoughts
  • March 31, 2023

Disturbing Thoughts

Remember when banks were small? Those old enough to have a bank account in the 1970s should. Back then, most people did their banking with a locally owned institution, often the First National Bank of (Your Town).

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Recession Odds Rising
  • March 24, 2023

Recession Odds Rising

Recently I saw someone share a clip from their weather app. It said, “Rain expected at 3 pm,” right above a little graphic showing a 30% chance of rain at 3 pm. What’s wrong with that picture?

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