By Rick Manning President Barack Obama’s managed trade agenda hit the front burner when Congress returned as Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced legislation granting the President fast track trade authority. The demand for fast track legislation was a focal point of President Obama’s January State of […]

By Robert Romano “We’re not only going to see rates move irregularly lower, but they’re going to remain depressed for several years. This process is not coming to an end, it’s dragging on.” That was Lacy Hunt of Hoisington Investment Management Company speaking with CNBC’s Rick Santelli on the trajectory of long-term […]

By Robert Romano First, the bill was supposed to be released on Monday. Then, it was supposed to be released on Tuesday. Now, it is Wednesday, and maybe it will be released, and maybe it won’t. But come Thursday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)  tells Politico that […]

By A.F. Branco Click here for a higher resolution version.

By A.F. Branco Get a higher resolution version here.

By Robert Romano “Except in the short run, real interest rates are determined by a wide range of economic factors, including prospects for economic growth — not by the Fed.” That was former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, very much downplaying the extent to which the nation’s central bank “controls” interest rates in his inaugural blog post for the Brookings Institution. […]

By Rick Manning What does the dismal unemployment report for March mean for the American economy? Are there reasons to be concerned that the optimism in the general media that the economy was finally picking up steam was misplaced? What do other economic reports say? Make no […]

By Robert Romano Does the national debt, now at $18.15 trillion, ever need to repaid? It seems an important question since, as far as the record is concerned, it has increased every single year since 1957 — more than 50 years ago. Except for brief periods in the 1950s, the 1920s, […]

By Robert Romano Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer let the cat out of the bag on March 23 when he told the Economic Club of New York that raising the federal funds interest rate from its near-zero levels “likely will be warranted before the end of the year.” Fischer’s comments were immediately followed by St. Louis […]

By Robert Romano You’re a slacker! That is Heritage Foundation economist Stephen Moore’s apparent take on young people failing to enter the workforce — reminiscent of the depiction of Principal Strickland in Back to the Future — writing an op-ed in The Washington Times, “Young Americans opting out of workforce.” In it, Moore […]