The Radford Free Press – Page 223 – All life is problem solving.

Economics / Federal Reserve Board, inflation, Keynes, monetary policy /

What Inflation?

October 12, 2012

I’d be remiss if I didn’t pass along today’s news on inflation. There isn’t any. Nada. Well that’s the story at the wholesale level where prices rose at an annual rate of 1.1% in September on the backs of volatile gasoline prices. As we all know energy and food contribute a lot of noise to […]

Weekly Summary / austerity, economic policy, economic theory, IMF, Keynes /

Weekend October 12, 2012

October 12, 2012

What a strange week. The paucity of hard economic news was punctuated by a quite remarkable mea culpa issued by the International Monetary Fund. Or rather the punctuation was provided by the chatter within the commentariat about the apparent regret the IMF has in arguing for austerity prior to the full recovery of sundry economies […]

Economics / consumer confidence, consumption, growth, Michigan -Thomson Reuters Index /

Confidence Up; Expectations the Key

October 12, 2012

Today’s news from the University of Michigan-Thomson Reuters index of consumer sentiment was surprisingly good. Surprising, that is, if we had not been paying attention to the details of other recent announcements. The jump in confidence to 83.1 at the beginning of October from September’s 78.3 fits neatly with the steady but largely hidden drumbeat […]