Federal Reserve

Each year the Kansas City branch of the Federal Reserve hosts a symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  It’s a who’s who of economics, finance, and central banking.  The world’s brain trust gathers to enjoy the bears, do some fishing, and see the natural beauty that accompanies any event with the Grand Tetons as a backdrop.  In between sessions with the great outdo

Technologist are busy creating machines capable of making human-like decisions in an instant.  Self-driving cars are probably the most obvious example.  In 2014 researchers at the MIT Media Lab introduced the Moral Machine, a website to crowdsource individuals’ decisions on how self-driving cars should prioritize lives in accident scenarios (e.g., how should it react when faced

Baseball season is about half way over with the All-Star Game taking place this coming Tuesday.  Fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers have, thus far, been treated to a winning season.  Of course, October is many months away, so it’s premature to call this year’s team champions.  Contrarily, the calendar year is just beyond the half-way mark, and the Federal Reserve isn&rsq

When I learned to drive, I was taught two techniques help stop a car in a hurry: down shifting and pumping the brakes.  It required an understanding of when to use the two together and also the finesse to pull it off efficiently.  If I’m being honest, I don’t know if I could do it anymore.  It’s been decades since I’ve owned a car with a manual transmissio

Shhhhhh…Did you hear that?  Policy changes are afoot globally.  Central banks around the world are quickly pivoting their positions on the global economy.  It started Wednesday with America’s Federal Reserve.  But then the Bank of England (BOE) got in on it yesterday.  After years of supporting economic output by creating money, they are starting to reverse

Our economy is hardly flying on one engine, but the international radio distress signal seems appropriate.  Why?  May is right around the corner, and the Federal Reserve will likely begin tightening its monetary policy during the period.  On Wednesday, the central bank unveiled its plan to shrink their balance sheet.

Inflation is a challenge for any family’s plan to retire.  Ask Tom Brady.  After leaving the NFL last month, he announced a comeback earlier this week.  Could soaring prices have been the driver?  Ok, probably not, especially since he will reportedly earn $25 million for playing the season.

Classic relationships can be so romantic.  They can even inform our own ideas about the successfulness of our pairings.  Take Ethel and Fred Mertz.  I know Lucy and Ricky are the main characters, but their neighbors really crack me up.  Like Fred, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked for the price tag on some item my wife wants to get rid of because I thin