Fed up before Christmas
As the year comes to a close, some of the year’s big trends have showed signs of stopping or even reversing. Are the current market moves really down to the market’s concerns about interest rate policy? This year has been tumultuous in market terms, for equity markets and especially for bond markets. Focus has centred on the Fed. It has responded to inflation by raising rates, and we (and other commentators) think it will continue to battle against potential inflation.
Gyrephobia: who’s afraid of the wage-price spiral?
“Gyrephobia” is a fear of spirals, or anything in a spiral pattern. Well, not really; it is one of those concoctions of Greek words to make something that sounds like a legitimate phobia – and it may be something that no one has. Perhaps, on recent evidence, one might suspect the Fed’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) members have a version of it.