Economic Outlook at Midyear
As seen in the WealthManagement 2020 MidYear Outlook Jeanette Garretty, Chief Economist, August 2020 Three enormously expensive and challenging projects confront the United States and the major developed economies in the next 18 months: 1) the repair and support of fragile economies and an ageing labor force, 2) the rebuilding of supply chains for strength […]
Investing for Future Growth
By Jeanette Garretty, Chief Economist July 21, 2020 – The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) regularly prepares long-term economic growth forecasts in order to fulfill its mandate to analyze the budgetary impact of current and proposed federal legislation. These forecasts utilize generally accepted or consensus projections of population growth, demographic trends, labor force participation rates, productivity, […]
The Value of Simplicity
By Jeanette Garretty, Chief Economist July 6, 2020 – Every soul-shaking event of the last twenty years – 9-11, the financial crisis of 2008-2009, the coronavirus pandemic – has been accompanied by a period of introspection regarding truly important things in our lives. The answers understandably are different for each individual, but there are often […]
Plain Speaking Powell
By Jeanette Garretty, Chief Economist June 16, 2020 – At a recent Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research Associates Meeting, the distinguished Stanford economics professor and monetarist John Taylor described Fed Chairman Jerome Powell as “speaking his mind.” It is a characterization that comes up time-and-again, always as a compliment; the most powerful central banker […]
Consumer Confidence
By Jeanette Garretty, Chief Economist June 11, 2020 – Consumer spending is 70% of the US economy, as measured by US GDP, and the frequent repetition of this mantra by popular financial media, academics and Wall Street analysts alike is testimony to the sheer power of the fact. While economic sectors with smaller shares of […]
A Note About Employment and Unemployment
By Jeanette Garretty, Chief Economist June 10, 2020 – The most recent report on US labor market conditions by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), released on June 5 and reporting on employment and unemployment in May 2020, has provoked a torrent of commentary on the accuracy of the survey data. In this particular case, […]
A New Economy for a New Expansion
By Jeanette Garretty, Chief Economist Deliberately Provocative Thoughts on the Inevitable Future April 15, 2020 – Humans are an amazing species. Perhaps it goes back to the ancient motivation to hunt for the next mastodon – while ever-attempting to find a better way to put food on the table—that even in the depths of coping […]
Surveying the Battleground
By Jeanette Garretty, Chief Economist March 3, 2020 – The Federal Reserve decision to cut the Fed Funds Rate by 50 bps brings a number of economic and financial market forces into sharper focus. Reason dictates that the Fed is proactively ensuring adequate liquidity to economic and financial markets that are going to be challenged […]
Deficit Attention Disorder Redux
February 13, 2020 – The US Treasury Department has released federal budget deficit, receipts and outlays numbers for the first four months of the government’s fiscal year (October 2019 through January 2020) and they certainly deserve attention. However, the 25% increase in the federal budget deficit over that time period is really a headline-grabbing distraction resulting […]
Time
By Jeanette Garretty August 21, 2019 – Many of us can often be found expressing a fervent wish for more time—more time to sleep, more time with the family, more time to read, more time to complete an ever-present mountain of to-do’s. Most of us have been raised with a number of well-worn aphorisms about […]
Financial Market Challenges and Opportunities: An Interview With Robertson Stephens Managing Director Michael Zaninovich
August 15, 2019 Jeanette Garretty sat down to discuss financial market conditions with her colleague, Michael Zaninovich, after the close of US markets on Tuesday. The following is a transcript of their discussion. JG: Michael, the markets are having another bout of volatility here in August. What do you see as the primary causes? MZ: […]
Currency Manipulation: Can it be done?
By Jeanette Garretty August 7 2019 – A brief history of global currency markets must always address the various attempts by central governments to influence the exchange rate of their native currencies. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Switzerland have all had notable instances when they were publicly accused of aggressively trying to maintain or otherwise […]