Federal Reserve

New Years offer many an opportunity for resolutions.  Perhaps you’ve made a few this year.  If you have, let Atlas know if we can help you with any of them.  While last Tuesday’s meeting minutes from the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee didn’t exactly serve as a resolution, they do offer some insight into how America’s central bank is thinking about t

America’s central bank gathered for the final time in 2023 this week.  As was widely expected, there was no change in the Fed Funds Rate.  This is the rate banks charge each other for overnight lending and is set by the Federal Reserve.  Votes in the halls of the Eccles Building were unanimous, something we can’t say about ballots in other halls within our nation&rsqu

Droughts can be devastating.  Avocado farmers in Southern Spain are dealing with a difficult one now.  The change is so dramatic that according to this Bloomberg article, one 86-year-old farmer has decided to take down 2,500 trees, now using th

Climbing a mountain implies a single direction: up.  Yes, from time to time you might reach a false summit that then dips lower for a bit, but the general direction of travel is up.  Inflation isn’t much different.  During your entire life, there have only been rare exceptions to the rising climb.

A few days ago, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Neel Kashkari, was interviewed by Bloomberg radio, and I happened to be listening.  In the interview, he referenced a dark matter metaphor used by John Williams, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  Atlas searched for the speech or interview in which Mr.

American cuisine is complicated.  The nation doesn’t exactly have a uniform palette.  Instead we have regional differences.  Take marinades for instance.  In the Northeast, a common marinade is made with apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, garlic, and herbs.  In the South, a traditional marinade is made with buttermilk, hot sauce, garlic, and onion powder.

Goldilocks was tired and hungry when she came across the Bears’ home.  Wanting to catch up on some sleep, she first tried Papa Bear’s bed, but it was too hard.  Then she jumped into Mama Bear’s, but it was too soft.

Interest rates are crucial to economic activity.  They impact the costs and therefore the incentives of financing the three pillars of the American economy: consumption, investment, and government spending.  Borrowing is done over various durations, from short to long.  Costs of loans are typically found on a menu known as a yield curve.

Macroeconomics can be very personal.  Those observing the changes in its machination are often watching the same or similar factors, yet their description of an economy can be very different.  While decorum is often kept in the field, sometimes things are said which evoke thoughts of obscenity.  This happened Wednesday as the Chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, responded

Are we in a drought or not?  It depends on where you live.  According to the map above, virtually all of California is not.  Those living to the southeast of the Golden State are not so lucky.  How did this come to be?  An excess of rain last year in California helped.  However, the West Coast probably shouldn’t act as if the current state of water will last