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At least one economist argues that allowing inflation to occur naturally could actually help the struggling U.S. economy. Mark Thoma notes the Federal Reserve is expected to implement controls if inflation approaches 2% and unemployment remains high by raising interest rates in an effort to retain inflation credibility, rather than keeping them low through 2014 as it had previously announced it would do. Thoma argues, however, that exerting control to hit a particular inflation target absent consideration of the other factors is unwise, and that inflation during a recession can encourage more activity in the market rather than restrain it.
If inflation begins to increase before the economy has fully recovered, the Fed shouldn’t panic:
At some point during the recovery, the Fed may face an important decision. If the inflation rate begins to rise above the Feds 2% target and the unemployment rate is still relatively high, will the Fed be willing to leave interest rates low and tolerate a temporary increase in the inflation rate?
Probably not.
Quick: what’s the first thing you notice when meeting someone new?
Is it color of their eyes or hair? What about their shoes or car? While most people tend to focus on obvious details, the thing that usually stands out more than someone’s signature scent, socks or suit, is their attitude and sense of confidence- or lack thereof.
Think back to the last party or networking event you attended. Who did you find more appealing- the guy slumped in the corner avoiding eye contact, or the person smiling confidently and engaged in an animated conversation? I thought so.
In the classic business motivational book Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill reveals his Self-Confidence Formula, part of which advises the reader to begin “thinking of the person I intend to become.”
Hill was a firm believer in changing your attitude to change not only your circumstances, but the way that others perceive you. It’s almost a self-fulfilling prophecy: acting successful makes others believe you to be so, which in turn, leads you to act more confidently and so it goes. But the s
Increasing mortgage rates coincided with decreasing refinance activity, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) revealed in its latest weekly report.
For the week ending March 16, 2012, the MBA reported a jump in average mortgage rates, as well as a noticeable decline in refinancing activity of existing mortgages.
In this latest data the percentage of overall mortgage activity associated with refinancing dropped to 73.4 percent, which is lowest level since July 2011, the MBA said. This is a notable drop from the 75.1 percent share seen the previous week.
With the rate increase last week, refinances are obviously slowing, and the refinance share at 73% is down to its lowest level since last July, Jay Brinkmann, MBAs Senior Vice President of Research and Education, said in a statement. With rate/term refinances falling as we go forward, HARP will be a bigger percentage of refinances but will be more concentrated in certain states.
Week-over-week, mortgage application activity declined for both new-home purchases and existing-home refinances, the MBA noted.
The MBAs Refinance Index saw a large drop of 9.3 percent week-over-week, while the seasonally-adjusted Purchase Index decreased 1.0 percent from the previous week.
Rising gas prices are having a negative impact on U.S. consumer sentiment, although projections suggest the feeling is temporary according to the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index. The Energy Department noted prices edged up another $0.04 in the past week, keeping more money in the pump and leaving consumers with less to spend elsewhere. Meanwhile, improvements in the stock market have some wondering about inflation, including Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, despite gains being propped up by a strengthening labor market.