Commentary

Quarterly Review and Outlook Second Quarter 2023

Monetary and fiscal indicators continued to tighten significantly in the second quarter pointing towards a material slowdown in the U.S. economy.

Commentary

Quarterly Review and Outlook Second Quarter 2022

The Fed’s most pressing concerns are to not only reverse its monetary excess and misjudgment of inflation, but also to instill confidence that they will follow important provisions of the Federal Reserve Acts.

Commentary

Quarterly Review and Outlook

Disaster is a strong but appropriate word that applies perfectly to the state of U.S. monetary policy.

Commentary

Quarterly Review and Outlook

Real Treasury bond yields fell into deeply negative territory in 2021.

Commentary

Quarterly Review and Outlook, First Quarter 2018

Nearly nine years into the current economic expansion Federal Reserve policy actions appear to be benign, as even after six increases, the federal funds rate remains less than 2%. Changes in the reserve, monetary and credit aggregates, which have always been the most important Fed levers both theoretically and empirically, indicate however that central bank policy has turned highly restrictive.

Commentary

Quarterly Review and Outlook, Fourth Quarter 2017

Optimism is pervasive regarding U.S. economic growth in 2018. Based on the solid 3%+ growth rate during the last three quarters of 2017, this optimism is well-founded.

Commentary

Hoisington Quarterly Review and Outlook, Third Quarter 2017

The worst economic recovery of the post-war period will continue to be restrained by a consumer sector burdened by paltry income growth, a low and falling saving rate, and an increasingly restrictive Federal Reserve policy. Additionally, with the extremely high level of U.S. government debt and deteriorating fiscal situation, the economy is unlikely to benefit from any debt-financed tax changes. Finally, from a longer-term perspective, the recent natural disasters are an additional constraint on economic growth.

Commentary

Hoisington Quarterly Review and Outlook, Second Quarter 2017

“Dual mandate” is one of the most commonly used phrases in U.S. central banking. The current Chair of the Federal Reserve often mentions it in both speeches and testimony to Congress. Not surprisingly, this is an extremely hot topic in monetary economics, and execution of this mandate has profound significance.

Commentary

Hoisington Quarterly Review and Outlook, Q1 2017

The Federal Reserve has initiated the fifteenth tightening cycle since 1945 (Chart 1). Conspicuously, in 80% of the prior fourteen episodes, recessions followed, with outright business contractions being avoided in just three cases.

Commentary

Hoisington Quarterly Review and Outlook – 4Q 2016

The 2016 presidential election has brought about widely anticipated changes in fiscal policy actions.

Commentary

Interim Update and Comment

The outcome of the national election does not change our view on the trajectory of the economy for the next four to six quarters.

Commentary

Hoisington Management Quarterly Review and Outlook, 3Q 2016

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, the U.S. budget deficit jumped to $590 billion, compared with $438 billion in the prior fiscal year. However, over the same time period the change in total gross federal debt surged upward by $1.4 trillion, more than twice the annual budget deficit measure.

Commentary

Quarterly Review and Outlook, Second Quarter 2016

Real per capita GDP has risen by a paltry 1.3% annualized since the current expansion began in 2009. This is less than half of the 2.7% average expansion since the records began in 1790. One of the most persistent impediments to growth has been the drag from fiscal policy, a constraint that is likely to become even more severe in the next decade. The standard of living, or real median household income, has only declined in the 2009-2016 expansion and stands at the same level reached in 1996.
Commentary

Hoisington Quarterly Review and Outlook – 1Q2016

The prospects for the Treasury bond market remain bright for patient investors who operate with a multi-year investment horizon. As we have written many times, numerous factors can cause intermittent increases in yields, but the domestic and global economic environments remain too weak for yields to remain elevated.
Commentary

Hoisington Quarterly Review and Outlook – 4Q2015

The economy was supposed to fire on all cylinders in 2015. Sufficient time had passed for the often-mentioned lags in monetary and scal policy to finally work their way through the system according to many pundits inside and outside the Fed. Surely the economy would be kick-started by: three rounds of quantitative easing and forward guidance; a record Federal Reserve balance sheet; and an unprecedented increase in federal debt from $9.99 trillion in 2008 to $18.63 trillion in 2015, a jump of 86%.